{"id":5078,"date":"2020-08-05T12:39:31","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T16:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fishingforcharity.org\/bluewateropen\/?p=5078"},"modified":"2020-08-05T12:39:31","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T16:39:31","slug":"newsletter-july-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fishingforcharity.org\/bluewateropen\/news\/newsletter-july-ending\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsletter – July Ending"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Charitable
Guest Speaker Series<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

  Guest Speaker Series<\/u><\/em><\/h2>\n

On July 22nd<\/sup> our guest speaker via ZOOM<\/em><\/strong> was Beth Mitchell, Sebastian Inlet District Commissioner.<\/p>\n

\"Sebastian
Beth Mitchell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beth Mitchell was first elected in 2004 and is currently serving in her fifth four-year term as Commissioner for the Sebastian Inlet District, Seat 2, Indian River County.  She has served as Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer during her 16-year tenure.<\/p>\n

Beth has been active with coastal issues for more than thirty years and has lived on the east coast of Florida for over forty-five years.  She recently retired as the President of the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce after eighteen years of service.  Prior to that, Beth was the VP of Operations for American Coastal Engineering and dedicated her efforts to alternative technology for erosion control on the beaches with submerged breakwater technology.<\/p>\n

The Inlet District was created in 1919 and there are 5 seats \u2013 3 from Brevard County and 2 from Indian River County.  There are 60 inlets in Florida. The Sebastian Inlet District was created by state legislature and charged with keeping the inlet navigable by dredging out of the inlet and depositing to the shoreline to the south.  Dredging of the inlet and sand trays occurs every 3-4 years. The inlet is second only to the Boynton Beach Inlet for being treacherous for navigation because it is one of the narrowest.  The Inlet State Park was created in 1971 and operates under the Office of Florida State Parks.  The Inlet Commission has a strong partnership with parks officials. <\/p>\n

In 2007 permitting was approved to open the channel and connect the inlet to the intercoastal. The channel helps to eliminate traffic on the grass beds and protects the beds from \u201cprop scars.\u201d The Sebastian Inlet is the most researched and studied inlet and is used as a model for research and science. There is a strong relationship which continues with Florida Institute of Technology.  Monitoring the mitigated sea grass beds continues today and information is shared with the Indian River Lagoon Council and others.  There has been some recovery reported and beds in the zones within the Inlet District footprint which are almost back to normal.<\/p>\n

There is a brochure available on the inlet web site that shows proper navigation of the channel connecting to the intercoastal.  Beth suggested that we download it and share with our Blue Water Open participants.  For more information visit sebastianinletdistrict.com<\/u>.<\/p>\n

*********************************<\/p>\n

On July 29th<\/sup> our club meeting was held via ZOOM.<\/em><\/strong>  Michael Natale, Immediate Past President led the meeting in               Ali Qizilbash\u2019s absence.  There was no speaker, so we had open discussion with those who attended:<\/p>\n