Posted on April 1, 2019
The total cost of the partnership with Charlotte County is estimated at $35.3 million, with a projected $7.7 coming from Sarasota
SARASOTA COUNTY — Property owners whose homes are exposed to Gulf of Mexico waters because of critical erosion on Manasota Key could soon see some relief if the Sarasota County Commission approves a joint beach renourishment project with Charlotte County.
The Sarasota County Commission on April 9 is expected to consider the joint project, which would restore roughly 50 feet of sand to the shoreline on a four-mile stretch from Blind Pass Park in Sarasota County to Don Pedro-Knight Islands Beach in Charlotte County. The total cost of the joint project is estimated at $35.3 million. The Sarasota County side has a projected cost of $7.7 million with the state covering $2.7 million, if the Legislature allocates the funding this session, according to Sarasota County documents. The Charlotte County side of the project is expected to cost just over $27 million, which includes a potential $9.4 million contribution from the state and an additional $1 million from the federal government, documents show.
Roughly 879,000 cubic yards of sand would be used for the joint project, according to county documents. The sand would be taken from nearby offshore borrow areas. If both commissions sign on, the project could start sometime next year, documents show.
Officials from both counties have said that joining forces to make the renourishment a regional project increases the chances of securing state funding. The regional project currently ranks third on the state’s list of requests, making it likely the funding from Florida will come through, officials said last month at a joint meeting between the two commissions.
The erosion in some areas has become so severe that some structures are in danger, Rachel Herman, Sarasota County’s division manager of environmental protection, said.
“There are a couple of structures that have become undermined, their foundations have become exposed,” Herman said. “Fortunately we’ve been able to issue permits for them to install sandbags to stabilize those shorelines.”
Property owners on the Sarasota County side of the project last month expressed how desperately needed the project is.
“After the May 2018 storm, I had an eroded cliff five feet from the corner of my house,” said Manasota Key resident Brian Rommel of Subtropical Storm Alberto. He added he was forced to pile huge sandbags on the shoreline to protect his property. “Now at high tide with any moderate surf, there’s no beach — the water’s up to the cliff.”
Rommel added the beach behind his home has lost about 78 feet of shoreline since the mid-1990s.
Resident Betty Gawthrop, too, has used large sandbags to shield her home from the severe erosion.
“I’m here to plead with you to consider cooperation between the two counties,” said Gawthrop, who added the erosion is “extraordinary.”
At the April 9 meeting, the Sarasota County Commission will also consider a solo Manasota Beach renourishment project, which would extend north from the joint project at Blind Pass Park to 7250 Manasota Key Road. The county must decide if it wants to add 20, 30 or 50 feet of shoreline to the beach, which ranges in price from $5.8 million to $14 million, documents show.
“That project would be done with inland fill from a sand mine in the center of the state and would be accomplished from that sand being trucked in from that offsite location versus using a dredge like the portion that would be conducted with Charlotte County,” Herman said.
Source: heraldtribune.com
