KELLY FARRELL / Staff

A seawall at 1584 San Marco Road is in such disrepair, Marco officials said it was found falling over. A neighbor reported the seawall to Code Enforcement and the owner of the vacant lot is getting the structure repaired by Collier Seawall and Dock. Many seawalls on island are past their original 30-year lifespan.

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Boaters and residents may miss a small crack in a cement seawall, but as the walls begin to fall, leaning into the canals, they become difficult to miss.

They also become costly to replace.

Bruce Yakola of building services wears a couple of hats in city government. Among them is inspector of the seawalls before and after construction or repair.

“You could spend at least $30,000 on a new seawall without blinking an eye,” Yakola said.

He added that many of the seawalls are likely reaching the end of their lifespan having been the original Deltona seawalls built when the Mackle Brothers were developing the island.

The Waterways Advisory Committee addressed the issue of the balancing act between following the city’s seawall ordinance and acknowledging both the expense and prevalence of the problem.

While the lifespan of a seawall can be extended by maintenance and repair, Yakola said it appears many are approaching or exceeding their 30-years of usefulness.

“It would be political suicide in these economic times to make everyone replace their whole seawall,” said chief building official Bob Mahar.

Yakola agreed and said he faced some challenges as the inspector.

“I’m probably the most unpopular person in the world. Seawalls are contentious. I take no joy in condemning a seawall,” he said.

At the same time, Yakola acknowledged that by doing so he could be preventing a complete seawall failure that would lead to the destruction of neighboring properties.

Environment specialist Nancy Richie said she also sees the costly effects of seawall problems.

“When a seawall fails you bring the neighbor’s seawall down. Your whole yard could disappear and we have had that happen,” Nancy said.

A horizontal crack, often seen near the water line on the cement walls may start small but can eventually lead to the wall completely failing, falling flat into the water.

Chief Code Compliance officer Eric Wardle said most seawalls are tied together during their construction causing a reaction similar to a domino effect to nearby seawalls.

Wardle said code enforcement usually finds out about the violations through complaints by neighbors and many also come from seawall contractors who may be looking for business.

Building inspectors also commonly see and report the problems, Wardle said.

Richie said she believed the prevalence and expense causes some difficulties when making choices on how to enforce the ordinance.

“Politics can come in and it gets ignored because so and so knows so and so,” she said.

Yakola requested direction from the committee.

“You tell me how closely you want to follow this ordinance and I’ll do it ... But you have to use good judgement,” he said, adding “I can’t say ‘well, I know you don’t have any money so I won’t condemn your wall.”

Wardle said there have been 117 violations reported so far this year, an increase from this time last year. There were 124 seawall ordinance violations in all of 2007.

Waterways Advisory Committee member Kris Helland said he would like the ordinance to be enforced in its entirety.

“Why would this committee create an ordinance that’s not going to be enforced,” he asked rhetorically.

Yakola said if strictness was what they wanted, he would continue providing it.

The best way for property owners to help solve or avoid the problem says public information Lisa Douglass, is to learn which maintenance and repair procedures may extend the life of their seawalls.

To maximize the life of your seawall, conduct a thorough inspection, install a French drain (is a ditch filled with gravel, rock that redirects surface and ground water away from an area), install pilings around the perimeter of the seawall, use idle speed when boating through canals and avoid using sprinkler systems and davits adjacent to a seawall.

Maintain French drains by topping them off with rock or gravel and unclog weep holes (small openings left in the outer walls of masonry construction as an outlet for water to move outside the wall and evaporate) of sand or soil. Continual use of davits to hoist heavy boats adjacent to the seawall can also increase pressure on them.

The Waterways Advisory Committee created a Seawall Owner’s Manual that is available on the City of Marco Island’s Web site www.cityofmarcoisland.com. The direct link to this manual is www.cityofmarcoisland.com/Public_Documents/MarcoIslandFL_PIO/seawall.pdf.