Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
County residents under a governor-issued stay-at-home order and deprived of almost every type of accustomed entertainment activity because of the coronavirus outbreak now at least are able to enjoy boating and fishing, if they're so inclined.
On Thursday evening, April 2 (in a virtual meeting conducted by the Jefferson County Commission and video-streamed via Zoom), the board members voted unanimously to keep the Wacissa River boat ramp open to local residents, although the beach will remain closed to all.
Commissioner Stephen Walker, in whose District 5 the river resides, had been contemplating opening the boat ramp to locals for a while and pushed for it at the meeting.
Walker, in fact, had revealed his thinking on the topic in an earlier post on his Facebook page.
“I have been actively looking for ways to try and protect residents in Jefferson County as best we can from the COVID-19 virus spread in our community,” the March 31 post read. “I have reached out and been in discussions with the Sheriffs Office on enforcement for our county-owned parks.”
Prompting the post and concern, Walker said, were the many out-of-state and out-of-county visitors who had been coming to the Wacissa River Headwaters Park in recent weeks, evident by the various license plates.
Walker argued at the meeting that restricting access to the boat ramp to only Jefferson County residents would accomplish two things. One, he said, it would give local residents a place to go boating without having to travel to other areas. And two, he said, it would help prevent people from other areas coming into Jefferson County and possibly bringing in the coronavirus.
“We are very fortunate that no cases have been discovered so far in Jefferson County and our responsibility as county officials and residents is to do our best to keep it that way,” Walker said. (Since the meeting, however, three cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the county).
Walker posed two possible options to his colleagues: close the boat ramp to all; or close it to out-of-county residents but leave it open to locals.
The boat ramp, he noted, was owned by the county, not the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). And it was maintained at the expense of local taxpayers, who should be given priority consideration for its continued use, he said.
“This (county's) ownership was established several years ago when we asked the FWC for assistance with the ramp,” Walker said. “The FWC checked its inventory and said it was ours and not theirs to repair and maintain.”
He expressed hope that given the emergency situation created by the coronavirus pandemic, the opening of the boat ramp would be considered a reasonable and legally defensible measure to implement.
He further noted that in his conversations with Sheriff Mac McNeill, the latter had expressed support for the measure and a willingness to work with the commission to enforce the board's decision.
“I feel that it's of paramount importance to keep the boat ramp open to the local folks,” Walker said, a belief supported wholeheartedly by the rest of the board, evident by the 5-0 vote and the minimal discussion that the item generated.
The only addition that the commission made to Walker's proposal was to tie the restriction to the governor's 30-day stay-at-home order in an effort to flatten the pandemic’s curve. The tie-in was based on the advice of County Attorney Scott Shirley, who noted that the local restriction raised possible constitutional issues. In light of the emergency nature of the current situation, however, he wasn't overly concerned, Shirley said.
“Bigger players in the state are taking stronger stances than Jefferson County,” he said, referring public access restrictions being imposed across the state by other Florida local governments.
“This measure could possibly be good for our neighboring counties as well, as their residents were here and exposed to people from all over as well,” Walker emailed the Monticello News on Friday, April 3.
Governor Ron DeSantis issued the statewide stay-at-home order on Wednesday, April 1, after coming under pressure from critics and in light of the mounting deaths from coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.
Under the stay-at-home order only those engaged in “essential activities” are to leave home. Among what are considered essential activities are purchasing food, medicine and fuel, visiting physicians, participating in outdoors activities for physical and mental health, and commuting to and from jobs deemed essential.