No action taken on city Public Works director’s proposal for city-county stormwater study
During a Sept. 18 meeting of the Sarasota City Commission and the Sarasota County Commission, Nik Patel, the city’s public works director, broached the idea of the two local governments undertaking a study that could lead to changes in the management of the city’s stormwater system, which the county has been handling since 1998.
However, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis reminded his board members that they had just decided in late August month to lift a pause on discussions of a potential transfer of the city’s responsibilities to the city. “We haven’t had any meetings since then,” he added.
Therefore, Lewis said, engaging in such a study “would be premature,” though he and county Stormwater Director Ben Quartermaine had talked about the issue. Lewis advocated for further discussions at the staff level before proceeding to any decision about the joint study.
“What staff comes back with … as they have those discussions,” he continued, “that’ll be important.”
Nonetheless, Lewis acknowledged, the County Commission could direct him to proceed otherwise.
None of the board members commented on that.
The Sept. 18 meeting came about 18 months after Spencer Anderson, then the director of the county’s Public Works Department, informed the city commissioners — again, during a joint meeting with the county board members — that the County Commission wanted to turn over the city stormwater work to the city. He cited rising expenses and continued development of new communities in the county, which the county needed to serve.
City commissioners seemed to be taken aback by Anderson’s comments that day.
Ultimately, the county commissioners decided last year that, until the new Stormwater Department they had authorized Lewis to establish — which would take over responsibilities that the Public Works staff had been handling — had been able to make progress with overdue maintenance and other issues, no further discussion of the transfer of stormwater work to the city should take place.
Remarks that county Stormwater Director Ben Quartermaine provided to both boards on Sept. 18 underscored the extent of the work in the city. He noted, for example, that the city has close to 74 miles of stormwater pipes (3,983 segments) and 48.28 miles of stormwater conveyance systems (ditches and canals).
A slide shown to the commissioners also said that the county uses contractors to hand clear a total of 147 ditches and canals in the city.
Quartermaine presented another slide showing that the city and county together have 196,488 parcels that are billable for the county’s Stormwater Environmental Utility assessments. (The revenue pays for the maintenance and other work.) Of those parcels, Quartermaine said, approximately 14% are in the city.
Then he noted that the total costs for operations and maintenance in the city in 2025 was $4.49 million, but the city assessments brought in only $4.2 million.
Quartermaine did explain that “approximately $800,000 of those maintenance costs” were based on one-year contracts to boost the level of service.
“The County Commission charged me with increasing our inspections … and increasing our maintenance activities,” he explained. “That $800,000 got us to … a starting point with that increased maintenance.”
No stormwater borders
During his remarks to the boards, Patel of the city’s Public Works Department pointed out, “Improvements in one area depend on drainage conditions elsewhere, which makes coordination of maintenance and emergency response essential.”
He also noted, “Residents need a clear point of contact, timely response and reliable service.”
The 1998 interlocal agreement between the city and county lays out the stormwater responsibilities, Patel continued. “Broadly, in the city,” he said, “the county leads watershed planning, maintenance, capital improvements and stormwater permit compliance.”
He then noted, “The city leads development review, right of way coordination and local priorities.”
Patel also pointed out, “Before recommending changes, we need to compare service quality, long-term cost and how these services would be funded.”
The city’s management of its stormwater systems is one option to evaluate, Patel said. Yet, he added, “The study should maintain regional coordination and prioritize dependable service throughout any change for our residents,” both in the city and in the county.
A joint study, Patel added, “would give both commissions a shared basis” for deciding how to handle stormwater services in the future.
The city has received a $500,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), he said, “to develop a city stormwater master plan.” The city would like a $1-million contribution from the county to combine with that, he noted.
With that funding support, Patel continued, “Staff would like to move quickly to formalize a study. … City and county staff would work with one consultant,” and the initiative would include public engagement.
He further pointed out, “The intent for this is to just be transparent and to work hand-in-hand with the county to come up with a comprehensive plan. The study would compare service options, [as well as] full operating and replacement costs, staffing, funding regulatory responsibilities and any transition needs.”
The city’s target for the completion of the final report is July 2028, he said. Its recommendations would be presented to both boards, Patel added, so they could consider the findings and approve any necessary actions.
He also told the commissioners that city staff is looking for their guidance in regard to improvements to the service and how best to measure results of initiatives. “I recommend focusing on response times, preventive maintenance, flood risk reduction, project delivery and long-term cost.”
“Any future recommendations should clearly explain what residents would receive,” Patel continued, along with who should be responsible for specific work and how expenses should be covered.
When Patel asked for questions regarding the interlocal agreement, Vice Mayor Kathy Kelley Ohlrich was the only person to respond.
“This stormwater issue is a real conundrum,” she said, “because the water flows from the county into the city, through the city, and then into Sarasota Bay. There are no gates that stop the water at the county line,” she pointed out. “In fact, we wouldn’t want gates, right?”
When the study is underway, Ohlrich continued, “It seems clear to me that we have to fairly identify who’s responsible for what, and I just wonder how you can separate this [city work from county work].”
Standards of service and expenses in the city
When county Stormwater Director Quartermaine came to the podium, he explained that the level of service of maintenance to the city’s systems meets the county standard of being able to handle what is known as the 100-year storm event: 10 inches of rain in 24 hours.
“Historically,” he said, “the city has had a lower design standard than the county.”
In addressing the County Commission’s call for an increased level of stormwater service for the Stormwater Department, Quartermaine
Explained — as an example — that staff had been handling maintenance of roadside ditches every 10 years. He and his staff believe that the timeline should be updated to “more like every three years,” which is what they have established as their new goal.
Additionally, although the county has met or exceeded federal permit requirements for the discharge of stormwater to open water, he noted, “People weren’t seeing us working, or they weren’t understanding what it is that we’re doing.”
In an effort to improve that situation, Quartermaine continued, county staff created an interactive stormwater map.
He presented a slide depicting the map, adding, “It shows all the work that we’re doing throughout the city and county.”
A resident may put in his or her address and a radius in regard to the location of their home or business, he said — “half mile, mile,” for examples — “and [the map will] show all the inspections and all the maintenance activities that have been done over the past six to 12 months,” along with those planned for the next 12 months.
“We’re continuously updating it,” he noted of the map. “It’s working really well.”
Every portion of the stormwater infrastructure is designated on the map as being in the county or the city, Quartermaine continued. “It’s identified as maintained either privately or by the county,” through the interlocal agreement.
Then, regarding Vice Mayor Ohlrich’s earlier comment, Quartermaine pointed out that most of the large canal systems in the county are in the county right of way, “so regardless of the [interlocal agreement with] the city, the county would be charged with maintaining those canal systems throughout the city” and the unincorporated areas of the county.