BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—County Commissioner Betsy Condon criticized Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for giving conflicting answers on the status and future of the county’s King Street boat ramp leading to the western shore of Lake Brooklyn.
The Crystal Lake resident who represents eastern Clay County said the boat launch had a concrete ramp 30 years ago, but when lake levels receded, the county removed the exposed ramp and converted the facility into a kayak and non-motorized boat launch.
Condon said that since water levels in the Keystone Heights lakes are now rising, she is getting calls from residents who want to launch motorboats from the King Street boat ramp.
The commissioner said that according to information she received from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the county owns the land up to the water line, but the state owns the land underneath the water, and Fish and Wildlife regulates boat ramps leading into waterways.
Condon added that some residents have gotten different answers than she received when they called FWC and the St. Johns River Water Management District about the facility. She added that because of the conflicting information, some have questioned her credibility.
“I’ve been called all kinds of names,” she said during a January 23 Board of County Commissioners meeting. “I’ve been called a liar, I’ve been called everything you can think of, which is really fine. You can call me what you want to… but it is quite frustrating to be called all kinds of names.”
Condon added that one particular Fish and Wildlife staff member had been giving residents information that was at odds with what she had been told.
“The FWC guy who was out there today was telling the residents that FWC will never put any concrete back out there or anything like that,” Condon said. “He was there today. He hadn’t been there since March…and he’s the one who has told the residents that it’s the county’s responsibility.”
“I’m going to publicly tell the residents of Keystone Heights,” she continued, “I have told you tonight everything that I know; I don’t have any other information. I’m quite frustrated because I can’t get a straight answer. And I’ve asked for meetings with these people, and nobody can set up meetings.”
