Page 60 - Panama City Living Magazine September-October 2019

RESTORING SEA OATS AND DUNES
restoring the sand dunes and sea oats, her entire family mobilized and helped with the volunteer efforts. Her mother, a retired edu- cator, was the volunteer coordinator. For the people who came to volunteer, many of them city employees and residents of Mexico Beach and neighboring cities, the beach restoration efforts are deeply personal and emotional.
This effort was a prelude to a much larger project that is current- ly ongoing: Mexico Beach’s dune restoration project. “To comply with FEMA flood management guidelines and five-year flood pro- jections, we are creating a berm, or dune, that will provide a first defense against flooding along the entire stretch of the City of Mexico Beach’s public beach. We anticipate completion of this project by October 1 this year,” Dina Bautista explains. “The berm will stretch a length of approximately 17,000 linear feet. It is not as tall as our dunes were, but it will be populated with sea oats that will help it grow. We will be planting the seed, so to speak. The dunes will grow from there.” She adds that walking on or over the berm will be prohibited but there will be more than 40 accessways and walkovers for public beach access.
What other projects are on the City of Mexico Beach’s priority list? Dina Bautista explains that there are many. “We are very much still in the recovery process. Right after the storm, we had to get our infrastructure back. Since then, with the approach of hurricane sea- son, the beach berm became a high-priority project and is almost completed. And recently we have been working on mitigation and resiliency and part of that is restoration. More of a long-term proj- ect is the regional storm water detention and wetland restoration along with providing greenway trails and city-wide opportunities for recreation.”
When we ask for her personal priorities and how it feels to live in Mexico Beach right now, the answer is prompt and shows her and the city’s determination. “A big step for everyone moving forward is to get people back into their homes and establish a sense of nor- malcy and I think everyone is going about it differently and has var- ious struggles. I feel that we are all moving into the same, positive direction and I can visibly see growth and improvement happening everywhere in town. We are dedicated to keep that momentum going. When I look at my kids, I am very proud of how they are dealing with all the changes with resilience. They are looking to the future with a smile and that’s making all the difference.”
To find out more about the progress that is being made in Mexico Beach, take a short drive and visit the recovering city, eat at one of the local restaurants and chat with the residents—your
support will be appreciated. Follow the City of Mexico Beach on their Facebook page for updates and volunteer opportunities.
60 • September–October 2019 • www.PanamaCityLiving.com