The City of Lynn Haven has been given the green light to begin filling in the large ditch on 17th Street after months of planning.
The ditch was originally placed by the state to alleviate flood water on Highway 77, but since then it hasn’t been kept up and has become dangerous for the community, even claiming a life in a 2010 car accident.
The city’s original plan was to cover the ditch in sections over a few decades, but City Manager Joel Schubert presented a change to that plan which would fix the problem in just one year.
In august, Commissioners approved for the ditch on the east side of Highway 77 to be filled completely within 12 months.
However, Mayor Margo Anderson said the permitting process proved to be a little slower than they anticipated with the discovery of beaver damns. She said they had been living there for years, then the ditch was declared a wetland, which involved more extensive permitting.
Now, all permits are cleared and construction will be moving along soon to get the dangerous ditch filled in.
