BAY COUNTY EAST PASS MAY REOPEN

The Bay County Commission is considering reopening East Pass, also known as “Old Pass,” which has been closed since 2003. Before the West Pass was opened in the 1930s, the East Pass was a channel that boaters used to reach the Gulf. But the East Pass became impassable in 1999 after decades of sand filling up the channel. The county opened East Pass in 2001 for a cost of about 2 million dollars, but that opening only lasted for two years. Bay County Commissioner William Dozier said there are environmental advantages to reopening the East Pass by allowing Gulf waters to replenish the Bay system.