Posted on July 23, 2018
The county has answered a call for help from a neighboring jurisdiction suffering from beach erosion that threatens private property and potentially public infrastructure if nothing is done.
The Sarasota County Commission has agreed to become a co-applicant with Charlotte County on Charlotte applications seeking state money to rebuild disappearing portions of critically eroded shoreline south of Sarasota County along Manasota Key. The move increases the chances Charlotte will receive funds from the state, officials said, adding that Sarasota County would be responsible only for covering costs of renourishing its own beaches on Manasota Key, which suffer from sporadic erosion. The Sarasota County Commission unanimously approved the move at its meeting last week.
“Any time you have multiple jurisdictions or regional type projects, the state likes to see that,” Sarasota County Commissioner Charles Hines said. “Obviously, this is one natural system, so it would kind of be strange to stop right there at the county line.”
If nothing is done about the area’s disappearing shoreline, the economy could begin to suffer, Hines added.
“A major economic driver here is our beaches and our water, so from that standpoint, we’ve got to protect our beaches,” Hines said.
Charlotte County completed a renourishment project at Stump Pass Beach Park before Hurricane Irma struck last September — in which sand from Stump Pass dredging was deposited in the state park at the southern end of Manasota Key — but the northern end of Manasota Key, near the Sarasota County line, is in dire need of more sand, Charlotte officials said. Charlotte County has submitted permit applications for its long-term, 10-year Manasota Key Beach Renourishment Plan and is awaiting word from the Army Corps of Engineers and Florida Department of Environmental Protection, officials there added.
Partnering on a more immediate renourishment project could enhance the opportunity for state funding for both counties and potentially save money, Charlotte County spokesman Brian Gleason said in an email.
“A joint project would be more effective than renourishing on one side of the county line or the other alone,” Gleason said. “A joint project would be more efficient cost-wise due to savings on a single deployment of contractor personnel and equipment versus two projects.”
A cost estimate for the future joint project will be calculated once Sarasota County submits plans for its portion, Gleason said.
Charlotte is the latest Southwest Florida government scrambling to combat severe erosion from damaging private property and government infrastructure. Lido Beach in the city of Sarasota has lost about 15 feet of shoreline since Irma and Subtropical Storm Alberto brushed the coast in May. Charlotte County did not have an estimate on how much shoreline has eroded since Irma.
DEP last month granted the city a permit it needs to dredge up to 1.3 million cubic yards of sand from Big Pass to rebuild parts of disappearing Lido Beach shoreline. City Manager Tom Barwin in late May declared a state of emergency for parts of the beach that vanished in Alberto’s wake. The erosion has started financially impacting businesses and caused minimal property damage along the barrier island, Barwin said. Private properties on Lido Beach sustained some damage from Alberto, while the concession stand at Lido Beach Pool and Pavilion has suffered economic losses. Barwin said he believes other businesses on the island are suffering economically because of the erosion that has prompted patrons to go elsewhere.
Source: Herald-Tribune
