Goglia cites numerous reasons why county grant needed for St. Armands project
The president of the St. Armands Residents Association is urging people who live on the island to attend the Dec. 16 meeting of the Sarasota County Commission, when that board is scheduled to consider applications for stormwater grants out of the approximately $210.1 million in federal funding that the county has received to deal with unmet needs in the wake of the 2024 hurricane season.
On Nov. 18, the day the County Commission was to address two city applications for waterway dredging — in Hudson and Whitaker bayous — 10 city residents appeared during the Open to the Public comment period to urge the board members to approve the grants. The County Commission did so, as The Sarasota News Leader has reported.
During the Sarasota City Commission’s regular meeting on Nov. 3, that board approved city staff’s recommendation to request $24.5 million from the grant that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the county in January.
Formally, the application that Chris Goglia of the St. Armands Residents Association has referenced is for the St. Armands Resiliency & Flood Mitigation initiative. City Public Works Director Nik Patel pointed out to the city commissioners on Nov. 3 that the initiative would entail the retrofitting of pump stations, installation of generators and tide check valves, underground storage of stormwater, permeable pavement and deployable barriers.
The city would provide a $480,000 match for the county grant, which would come through what is called the Resilient SRQ Program.
The Town of Longboat Key has provided a letter of support for the application, Patel noted, given the fact that State Road 789 — which runs through St. Armands — is the hurricane evacuation route for many Longboat residents.
The St. Armands project has been designed to provide 100 years of protection for SR 789, which 32,000 vehicles use each day, according to a slide that Patel showed the commissioners. The plans also would protect the 140 business locations on St. Armands, his slide noted.
In his Dec. 2 newsletter to members of the St. Armands Residents Association, President Goglia explained what prompted his concern about residents’ attendance at the Dec. 16 County Commission meeting. It was a statement that County Commissioner Teresa Mast made during a Nov. 18 public hearing that her board conducted.
The County Commission was considering a proposal for an amendment to the county’s Comprehensive Plan — which guides growth in the county — and modifications of the county’s land-use regulations to allow for the voluntary demolition of condominium complexes built on Siesta Key before January 2000. The goal of Commissioner Mark Smith was to enable the aging structures to be replaced with the same numbers of units, but in compliance with all modern building standards.
Smith began pursuing the change before he was elected to the board in November 2022. As a long-time Siesta Key architect, he has talked of the fact that county regulations allow such condominium replacements with the same residential density only in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Smith cast the only “Yes” vote for the new policy and regulations. Mast was adamant about not giving her support, she said, because Smith’s client when he launched the endeavor in January 2022 was the Sea Club V condominium association on Siesta Key. Yet, she stressed, no one from Sea Club V was present for the hearing that day.
“I find it mind-boggling that not one person has been here to speak on their behalf,” Mast said, referring to the Sea Club V owners, “because if it was something that I felt very passionately about or that I felt was the right thing to do, I think I would scream from the mountaintops.”
Smith explained later that he had recommended that none of the members of that association attend the hearing, as the proposal would apply to all complexes built on the Key prior to January 2000, when the Florida Building Code went into effect.
“If there is a way to get this [stormwater] investment for St. Armands, what is it going to take?” Goglia wrote in the Dec. 2 newsletter. His response, with emphasis, was, “Representation from ALL stakeholders at the December 16 County Commission meeting in two weeks: City of Sarasota, Town of Longboat Key, Barrier Island Business Owners and Commercial Property Owners, and St. Armands Residents and Residential Property Owners.”
Stressing the need for the funds
In the newsletter, Goglia also pointed to numerous reasons why St. Armands needs the funding.
He wrote, “We need to scream from the mountaintops that …
- “Taxpayers in the unincorporated parts of Sarasota County or in Venice or North Port are NOT subsidizing a project that only benefits the City of Sarasota; these are federal funds intended ‘to repair, replace and enhance public infrastructure to mitigate future disaster risks and address urgent community needs’ ”;
- “Sarasota County has agreed to maintain the city’s stormwater management system via interlocal agreement,” he continued; yet, “the system repeatedly fails to remove floodwater from our streets even after storms pass and tides recede”;
- “We’re not asking the county to stop future hurricanes; we know that can’t be done. We’re asking the county to invest in RESILIENCY; we need to be able to bounce back faster”;
- “Home buyers and businesses will be hesitant to invest here until our resiliency issues are addressed.”
Moreover, Goglia noted the following factors, with more emphasis:
- “People throughout Sarasota County come to the city’s barrier islands to WORK; not just in shops, restaurants, and hotels … [Others are] service providers (pool, lawn, tree, pest, HVAC, etc. …), contractors and tradespeople, appliance repair people, caregivers, delivery drivers and installers, ride share drivers, etc.”;
- “People throughout Sarasota County come to the city’s barrier islands for RECREATION; not just shopping and dining, but going to Lido Beach, kayaking through the mangrove tunnels in South Lido Park, launching boats and picnicking on City Island, watching the holiday parade of boats and Fourth of July fireworks, etc.”;
- “St. Armands is the only direct way to travel from mainland Sarasota to the Town of Longboat Key and it’s an official hurricane evacuation route,” he pointed out. Yet, he added, “St. Armands streets were impassable last year and Town of Longboat Key people could only get there via Manatee County”;
- “TOURISTS come to Sarasota County for its beaches, natural beauty, arts and cultural venues, and unique shopping and dining destinations of which St. Armands is a major draw”;
- “We need this project to be fully funded; partial funding is unlikely to solve our resiliency problem.”
The Dec. 16 County Commission agenda should be available for public viewing by the end of the day on Dec. 9. Visit the county’s webpages dedicated to board meetings and agendas. The session will begin at 9 a.m. at the Robert L. Anderson Administration Center, which stands at 4000 S. Tamiami Trail in Venice.