Coastal Recovery Commission of Alabama | CRC Public Meetings, Nov. 8-10: Everybody’s Welcome

CRC Public Meetings, Nov. 8-10: Everybody’s Welcome

Nov 06, 2010

On three successive nights between November 8 and November 10, the Coastal Recovery Commission (CRC) of Alabama takes its work in progress before the public for comments, corrections, and suggestions.

The three meetings:

Monday, Nov. 8, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Orange Beach Community Center
Tuesday, Nov. 9, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Bayou La Batre Community Center
Wednesday, Nov. 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m., 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center, Spanish Fort

“Our work has been a public process all along,” said CRC chair Ricky Mathews, “but now we want to go directly into communities to explain what we’re doing and to invite participation.”

For these three meetings, said Mathews, “We’re going where people have been most affected by the oil spill’s impacts and who have the most experience trying to navigate systems designed to help them. We need to hear their suggestions about ways to repair and improve those systems.”

What attendees tell CRC volunteers and staffers will be integrated into research by writers assigned to complete the report in time for the December 15 presentation to Governor Bob Riley and Governor-elect Robert Bentley.

For more about the goals and background of the CRC effort, check out the overview column to the right and the FAQ under the WHAT & WHY tab on the toolbar above.

FILED UNDER: News and InformationTAGS: Alabama Gulf coast, Coastal Recovery Commission, Deep Water Horizon, oil spill, Ricky Mathews, south Alabama

| More

5 Responses to “CRC Public Meetings, Nov. 8-10: Everybody’s Welcome”

Rusty Siebert says:

November 11, 2010 at 5:51 pm

Living in Nashville we are saturated with billboards, radio and Tv ads from Panama City and Destin and absolutely nothing from Orange Beach. If BP gave you a advertising contribution where is it? Are we just giving it to the big rental vendors to cover their usual direct mail? Orange Beach and Gulf Shores has become a non entity in terms of market awareness in Nashville. Show us the money, your absence
is pathetic.

Reply
steve mowry says:

November 11, 2010 at 6:27 pm

I’m a condo rental property owner and have been so for 10 years. We love coming to the beaches and all that are offered. Having been to Orange Beach just recently I found the cleanest water I have ever seen, the whitest sand, the nicest people, best seafood, etc. I’m most concerned about people and our potential to loss that core group. BP support of lost income and revenue are tremendous. It’s the trickle down thou to others, shop keepers, waiters that do not get this that we can loss and if lost all those services will be lost and it will continue to spiral. We need a top level advertising campaigne and great deals to get the vacation people back. That is the key.
I can not speak to the fisherman and others that have lost also but BP should help that. Will BP be helping us in 2011, 2012, etc?

Reply
Steve & Kim Newman says:

November 11, 2010 at 6:44 pm

We are one of the owners of condo buildings destroyed by the hurricane Orange Beach. We were going to rebuild – but with the current lending policies/economic conditions/oil spill – money is not available to rebuild. Our original builder has come-up with a unique idea which is economical and green. Would it be possible to “grant” a grant for him to present this idea to the local commission. Then, would it be possible to provide the association/owners an interest free/assumable loan to rebuild the building? This will allow those owners that are strapped a possible way to sell their share. In addition, the construction, use, and rental of the building will surely stimulate the economy. The property is beach front at 26026 Perdido Beach Blvd. We would like to known as the “little condo that could”. Thank-you!

Reply
matthew says:

November 11, 2010 at 6:52 pm

its the old adage of give a man a fish or teach him to fish. BP has paid some people for loss of wages but it would be nice if they made a long term lasting impact on the area by creating some permanent jobs. they could partner with a manufacturing company and open a local plant to create jobs. 1 thing they could do quickly is purchase the bama bayou and get it completed quickly. this project is not only shovel ready but it is already started, permits are issued and can create jobs quickly. they then could advertise the bama bayou nationwide and give away free passes for the first year to get it some quick traction. this would help bp’s reputation recover quickly and also help the area.

Reply
Steve Dukic says:

November 23, 2010 at 10:08 am

I would like to suggest consideration for revitalization of a property in Orange Beach. The property has been vacant since hurricane Ivan, former Royal Romar Dunes. Phillip Owen, a local engineer, has proposed construction of a condo building on the property using green technology. His plan was submitted to a recent grant program of Pepsi Co. The initial costs of construction for this project appear to be greatly less than traditional costs, as well as, time of construction. This project should be given consideration by the committee as a prudent means to use some of the gulf recovery monies to pump some life into a vacant property and the local economy.

Reply

Share Your Own Thoughts and Ideas

We invite questions and suggestions about our process and goals. The online rules are the same as they'd be if we were meeting in person. We'll respect one another and keep on topic. And we'll work together to shape strategies that will make for a better, safer, more resilient South Alabama.

If you have comments or research suggestions you want to direct to one of our committees, you can also send email directly to the appropriate group by going to PARTICIPATE in the toolbar above and using one of the topic-specific email addresses.

A once-in-a generation opportunity is upon us. A transformational moment in Alabama history.

That’s how Gov. Bob Riley described hopes for the Coastal Recovery Commission (CRC) of Alabama, created by his executive order on September 27, 2010.

The CRC’s mission: To shape, in the wake of BP’s Deep Water Horizon oil spill, “a roadmap to resilience” for South Alabama.

“We must do everything we can to restore what’s been lost because of this disaster,” said Gov. Riley. “But we should also use this moment to strengthen the resilience of our state and coastal communities. The commission will recommend ways that improve our ability to respond to future challenges and examine strategies that will mean far less suffering the next time a catastrophe threatens us.”

The CRC’s work is funded entirely with BP money already contributed to the state. No tax dollars will be used. What’s more, Gov. Riley took pains to insulate the Commission as much as possible from politics as usual. Since he leaves office in January, he’s acutely aware that the recommendations of the Commission will be in another governor’s hands. So he’s reached out to the political camps of both men vying to replace him, inviting them to appoint their own representatives to the Commission to participate in shaping a report that should inspire the new governor no matter who wins in the November elections.

What’s more, Gov. Riley is asking local elected officials to give the Commission a little room to work. “We’ll bring politicians in,” said the governor. “But this will be a citizen-led – not a politician-led – effort. If we do that, I promise you it will be successful.”

The CRC is made up of citizen leaders with broad ranges of experience in civic life in Alabama’s coastal region. It’s headed by Mobile Press-Register publisher Ricky Mathews, who brings to this effort the experience of a similar commission in the post-Hurricane Katrina environment of coastal Mississippi. For a complete list of CRC members, go here.

“What we learned after Katrina on the Mississippi Coast,” said Mathews, “is that a crisis of even enormous proportions provides opportunities to re-imagine a whole region.

“If we do our work on this commission right,” Mathews said, “we can position South Alabama for not only bouncing back more effectively from future catastrophes like oil spills and hurricanes but also for providing greater security and more opportunity for all of our citizens, even when there are no emergencies. That’s the essence of resiliency.”

Forging consensus on what the oil spill’s impacts were and how to make the coast safer for citizens and visitors and more secure for long-term investment is tough enough. Implementing the Commission’s recommendations next year and in the years after will be harder – if the Commission is not able to begin building coalitions of support during this process. “If we’re to make the most of this opportunity,” said Mathews, “we have to begin thinking bigger and broader than we ever have.

“Oil spills and hurricanes don’t just threaten isolated spots on a map,” said Mathews. “Their effects reverberate through an entire state, through a region even. So our chances for coping with future threats depend upon us building a regional vision, an awareness of how we’re connected with one another and how we can work with one another to do more than any of us as individual citizens or individual communities ever imagined.”

This is a project on a fast track. At some point – no one knows exactly when – there is the potential for billions of dollars to flow to the coastal states from BP and from other energy-related sources. To assure that Alabama is positioned to make the most of this potential investment, “we need a plan,” said Gov. Riley. And it has to come quickly.

So the Commission is committed to delivering its report by Dec. 15, initially as a downloadable pdf from this website. Printed books will be available soon thereafter.

The Commission is organizing its work under three broad topics, each connected with the other and each representing a key component of regional adaptability and sustainability:

A Healthy Environment
A Healthy Society
A Healthy Economy

Commission members are assigned to each of the topics and will break the broader categories into sub-committees as they see fit. We’ll report on the activities of those committees and sub-committees on this website regularly.

This is a very public process. Participation of regional experts, elected and appointed officials from all the towns and counties affected by the oil spill, regional business folks, and residents will have plenty of opportunities to review CRC work in progress and contribute their ideas and comments. They’ll be able to do that in person at community meetings, by mail or phone, and online via this website.

Here’s how to make the best use of this site:

If you want to know who’s on the Commission and who’s staffing it, click on the WHO tab in the toolbar above.

If you want to understand the CRC’s mission, get answers to frequently asked questions, and see background data committees are gathering, click on the WHAT & WHY tab.

If you want to know the schedule of public events and locations for meetings, click on the WHEN & WHERE tab.

If you want to contact us directly, you’ll find information under CONTACT US, and at the bottom of each news post in the column to the left, is space for comments and questions.

If you want to read or see what others are saying about the CRC effort, we’ll post links and documens under IN THE NEWS.

This is going to move fast. So keep in touch. We need your participation.