Okaloosa County will continue to use in-house labor to clean the beaches on Okaloosa Island and in Destin through February.
The county’s public works department also will start raking the sand to remove deeper debris. County commissioners recently approved renting a deep sand rake for $6,000 for the first month and $2,500 for every additional month.
Public Works Director John Hofstad said the sand rake digs about six inches down to remove glass and other trash.
“It’s been two months since they’ve been raked last,” Hofstad said. “Fortunately, it’s that time of year where you’re not getting a lot of traffic on the beach.”
The county stepped in to clean the beaches in October after the bid process for the cleaning contract was halted by a complaint lodged by one of the competing firms. The county will not rebid the contract until all legal challenges are resolved.
Commissioners said they also are interested in comparing the costs of in-house beach cleaning versus an outside contract.
Hofstad said he would present the board with specific numbers in the coming weeks. He estimated the first-year costs of in-house beach cleaning would be $300,000, with more than half of that being equipment costs.