County Commission decisions set for Nov. 18 and Dec. 16 meetings
The City of Sarasota is applying to Sarasota County’s Resilient SRQ Program for a total of about $82 million for two dredging projects and three infrastructure projects, with the city commissioners voting unanimously on Nov. 3 to authorize Mayor Liz Alpert to sign letters that had been drafted for delivery to the County Commission.
All of the areas identified in the funding request suffered from Tropical Storm Debby in August 2024, Hurricane Helene in late September 2024 and Hurricane Milton in October 2024, Nik Patel, director of the city’s Public Works Department, pointed out to the board members during their regular meeting this week.
As The Sarasota News Leader has reported, the County Commission in late April dedicated $132,089,300 to three “buckets” of the nearly $210.1 million that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the county in January for responses to unmet needs following the 2024 storm season. The county program through which the grant is being managed — along with a 2024 HUD award of about $201.5 million for unmet needs as a result of Hurricane Ian’s strike in September 2023 — is called Resilient SRQ.
Having heard since early this year from a multitude of residents who suffered significant damage from flooding along Phillippi Creek, the County Commission approved $45 million specifically for the dredging of that waterway. It also designated $30 million for the dredging of other major waterways and $57,089,300 for public facilities and infrastructure projects for which public entities, nonprofit organizations and the county itself could apply.
During its regular meeting on Nov. 18, Public Works Director Patel said, the County Commission is scheduled to consider applications for dredging projects. Then, on Dec. 16, the board members will review applications for infrastructure initiatives.
The details of each city request — as shown in slides that Patel presented to the City Commission — are as follows:
- $15 million for the removal of about 80,500 cubic yards of sediment from Hudson Bayou; the restoration of the watery body’s 100-year service level; and the stabilization of its banks. The undertaking would protect 74,000 residents and property valued at $290 million, along with safeguarding the Osprey Avenue and Bahia Vista Street evacuation routes.
The city would provide a match of $1.3 million, the slide showed, making the total Resilient SRQ request $13.7 million.
- $20 million for the removal of approximately 118,000 cubic yards of sediment from Whitaker Bayou and the restoration of its 100-year service level. That initiative would eliminate flooding worries for owners of 210 homes and allow for fast reopening of the intersection of U.S. 301 and Myrtle Street after storms, the slide said. Almost half of the expense — $9.9 million — would be in the form of a grant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Patel noted.
- $25 million for a St. Armands Resiliency and Flood Mitigation Program, which would include the retrofitting of pump stations, plus the acquisition of new generators and tide check valves, implementation of underground storage areas, and the installation of permeable pavement and deployable barriers. The city would provide a $480,000 match out of the penny sales tax — or, Surtax — funding it receives through a county program, Patel said. The Town of Longboat Key has provided a letter of support for this proposal, he also noted.
- $15.9 million for a resiliency and stormwater mitigation plan for Whitaker Bayou that would entail best management practices retrofits at three locations: Tri-Par Estates, which stands at 1616 Presido St.; the intersection of 17th Street and U.S. 301; and the intersection of U.S. 41 and 10th St. The project would result in the removal of approximately 7,340 pounds of total nitrogen per year and the restoration of about 1,500 linear feet of roadway.
- $6.74 million for what has been christened the Sarasota Stormwater Resiliency and Flood Mitigation plan, which would include projects in the predominantly Amish and Mennonite community of Pinecraft, plus Harbor Acres and the Sarasota Memorial Hospital campus. Patel noted that much of the land in those three areas is impervious. That initiative is expected to remove approximately 600 pounds of total nitrogen each year, eliminate flooding on 5,500 linear feet of roadway and protect 40 homes.
Concern about the amount of the requests and a query about the timeline
Following the presentation, Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch indicated concern about the amount of money that the city would be requesting out of the Resilient SRQ funding, noting, “It’s a lot of their total buckets.” She also pointed out, “I’m sure [the county commissioners are] going to have a lot of requests for these funds.”
Nonetheless, she told Patel, “We could use those funds, and these projects are not capricious at all.”
Interim City Manager Dave Bullock responded, “This is a formal request [that] follows their process precisely.”
He added, “We hope that the two dredging projects will get funded or, at least, heavily funded.” Bullock acknowledged that the infrastructure projects “are subject to a lot of competition.” However, he said, the St. Armands initiative is the most important one.
He encouraged the commissioners to take the opportunity during any one-on-on discussions with county commissioners to emphasize the need for the dredging projects and the St. Armands proposal.
Of St. Armands, Bullock pointed out, “We have to get the stormwater there in better shape than we’ve had it …”
When Ahearn-Koch asked Patel about the timeline for the Whitaker Bayou proposal, if the County Commission agrees to the funding, he told her that the design and permitting would be expected to take about two years, followed by another two years or so of the actual work.
“Infrastructure can happen a little bit quicker,” he added, probably in closer to three years.
Patel emphasized that the permitting process is the most time-consuming facet of the dredging initiatives. In fact, he noted, that could result in those projects taking about five years to complete.
The St. Armands work likely would take four to five years, Patel continued. He explained that more entities are involved in that undertaking, including the county and the Florida Department of Transportation. “There’s a lot of different components to that.”
When Ahearn-Koch asked whether the dredging and infrastructure initiatives could be pursued concurrently, he told her they could.
The only speaker who had signed up to comment on the plans was Bob Kelly, who said he lives on St. Armands and is a member of the board of directors of the St. Armands Residents Association.
“Here we are, over a year after the big storms,” he told the commissioners, “and only 80 stores of 140 [on the Circle] are reopened.”
Because of the worries about future flooding, Kelly indicated, it is riskier for people to open a business in the St. Armands shopping and dining district.
Yet, he pointed out, “We [traditionally] have two-and-a-half million people who visit us every year,” and the road through St. Armands is “a super important evacuation route.”
Mayor Alpert added, “St. Armands Circle is a huge draw for our tourists and for our residents.”
Commissioner Kathy Kelley Ohlrich ended up making the motion to authorize Alpert to sign the letters to be sent to the County Commission, and Commissioner Kyle Battie seconded the motion. It passed 5-0.