Residents urge Port St. Joe commission to oppose proposed regional port governance and commercial shipyard plans

At the Oct. 7 Port St. Joe City Commission meeting, several residents urged the commission to oppose a proposed legislative change that would replace the local port authority with a five-member regional board and could pave the way for a large commercial port and associated infrastructure.

A speaker representing the Gulf County Citizens Coalition described a plan discussed at a recent state-delegation meeting in which Gulf, Franklin, Gadsden and Liberty counties would each have representation and a single at-large member would be appointed, giving Port St. Joe reduced relative influence on a board that could approve large-scale dredging, rail reestablishment and expanded port operations. The commenter warned that a regional commercial port could require substantial dredging, displace current fisheries and tourism activity, and reduce local control.

Deborah May, a resident and public commenter, described recent technical reporting issues and laboratory transcription errors that had underreported dioxin levels by a factor of 5,000 in earlier analyses; she argued that inaccurate environmental data could be used to understate contamination and speed permitting for commercial dredging. She and other commenters asked the commission to send a strong, specific written letter to state representatives (named by speakers at the meeting) urging preservation of local control and careful environmental review.

Commission members acknowledged the concerns, asked staff to track whether a specific bill had been filed, and noted they would consider correspondence to the delegation. No formal vote was taken at the Oct. 7 meeting to oppose a bill, but commissioners requested staff to obtain additional information and to prepare a draft letter for commission review.