Just a quick update regarding the Fairness Hearing held in Federal Court yesterday.
First, a big thank you to all of you who were able to attend. The judge indicated that he was pleased with the turnout!
In a very small nonlegal nutshell, the hearing went extremely well. As you may remember, at issue were 2 items (on our wish list), one being to stop the Corps' dredging practices that were deemed harmful to our beaches. They already did this as of one year ago.The second was to design and implement an appropriate remediation project if a study showed that the Corps was indeed culpable.
Yesterday's hearing was to determine if all involved felt that the agreement was to their satisfaction. Both sides appeared to be extremely cooperative toward each other in their presentation and even filed several motions jointly. The judge was impressed with the shared effort made.
There was a part of the hearing designated to have those who indicated on their opt-in forms that they wished to speak, do so. Not one person who made such a notation was there.
The judge then asked the attendees if anyone who opted in(or out) wished to speak. The audience was silent. Then he asked by a show of hands how many people were in favor of the settlement. All hands went up.
A property owner who had headed the verifying process then spoke to the judge, indicating that during the process she had occasion to speak with hundreds of people and all were very much in favor of the settlement.
The final stroke of good fortune seemed to come when the judge said that he lived on the water and erosion was of concern to him, too. He said that Isabel had hit his area powerfully.
In his closing remarks, the judge seemed to be very satisfied with the manner in which the hearing was conducted (the presentations, etc). The gist seemed to indicate that this phase would be resolved to the satisfaction of the parties involved.
More to come in the next day or two.
Related articles
Dauphin Island Property Owners Association meeting notes, July-06
Highlights of the June Dauphin Island Property Owners Association Board Meeting