Deputy city manager tried again in June to obtain county approval, but county did not respond with another letter
In late April, Assistant Sarasota County Administrator Brad Johnson informed Deputy Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown that the county’s Ted Sperling Park on South Lido Key Beach could not be used as a staging area for the long-term renourishment initiative on that shoreline, The Sarasota News Leader has learned.
Although Brown tried as late as early June to persuade county leaders to change their minds, a public records request the News Leader made this week found no evidence of follow-up communication from the county.
In his letter dated April 24, Johnson wrote that he was responding to city letter regarding the use of the park “for access and staging for the Lido Beach Hurricane Storm Damage Reduction Project,” which is the official title the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has given to the proposal to place about 950,000 cubic yards of sand on South Lido Beach.
Johnson noted that the city communication indicated that “sand placement is estimated to start between September 1 and October 1, 2019. It is our understanding the project is anticipated to be completed in Spring 2020.”
Johnson also referenced an exhibit City Engineer Alexandrea DavisShaw had sent the county — a map depicting “a 0.6-acre staging area and a construction access path leading to the beach.”
Then Johnson wrote, “Our evaluation of the City’s request has produced several concerns including how the construction timeline conflicts with periods of high park utilization, restrictions to primary beach access points, and negative impacts to the park’s infrastructure and natural resources.”
He added, “In consideration of these potential issues, Sarasota County respectfully declines this request for use of Ted Sperling Park at South Lido Beach.”
DavisShaw had referred to the fact that the Sarasota Coastal Rowing Association plans to host the Sarasota International Coastal Regatta from Nov. 20-24, which will involve Sperling Park.
The first plea
In a March 26 letter to Shawn Yeager, manager of the county’s Beaches and Water Access Division, DavisShaw wrote that the USACE was “working on completing the design and specifications” for the long-range project to stabilize about 1.6 miles of South Lido Beach. The city was co-applicant with the USACE for the necessary Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) permit for the initiative, which proposes to use up to 1.3 million cubic yards of sand from Big Sarasota Pass.
DavisShaw added that the USACE “would like to be able to reflect Ted Sperling park [sic] as a location for staging and access as noted on the attached Exhibit 1, in the project specifications.”
Part of Sperling Park is referenced as South Lido Nature Park on the county’s website. Located at 190 Taft Drive, its amenities, its webpage says, include birding, a canoe/kayak launch, fishing, picnicking, a shelter/pavilion and wildlife viewing. It also has a restroom.
The other portion of the county property is referenced as Ted Sperling Park at South Lido Beach, with the address of 2201 Benjamin Franklin Drive. Its webpage notes that among its amenities are the beach access, a playground, an unpaved trail and wildlife viewing. It also has a restroom.
TripAdvisor says Sperling Park provides “unique opportunities for visitors to enjoy natural Florida beaches,” adding that the property has access to four bodes of water: the Gulf of Mexico, Big Pass, Sarasota Bay and Brushy Bayou.
DavisShaw continued in her March 26 letter, “While we don’t know the specifics on the construction activities, as the means and methods will be up to the selected contractor, we would like to be able to provide a possible location for staging and access for [the USACE’s] consideration. The Corps is estimating the sand placement will take place between October 1, 2019 and December 30, 2019 and beach access and some material staging will be needed during this time period and possibly for the groin construction to be done between December 20, [2019] and March 19, 2020.”
The USACE also won FDEP approval to build two groins on South Lido to try to hold sand in place between subsequent renourishments over the 15-year timeframe allowed in the state permit. The original USACE project manager estimated more sand would be needed on the Lido Beach every five years.
DavisShaw added that she would like for Yeager to accept her March 26 letter as a formal request. “If the County would allow use for a shorter time period,” she pointed out, “please let me know and the Corps could modify the specifications to require the groin work take place via barge.”
Further pleas
On April 11, DavisShaw sent another letter to Yeager, noting that USACE project team members had refined their plans. They were going to propose that the contractor start the groin construction concurrent with work on the sand placement on the northern part of the project area, she wrote. “This may reduce the overall time period of the project,” DavisShaw pointed out.
“They also have reduced the overall area they would like to use for staging at the south staging location,” she continued. The USACE, she wrote, had said that having two locations for staging, “one at the Lido Pool area and the one attached here [in another exhibit], will be very helpful in reducing the construction activity along the beach and the impact on visitors.”
On June 11, Deputy City Manager Brown sent a third city letter to the county. He addressed this one to County Administrator Jonathan Lewis.
Brown referenced “a very productive meeting with your staff and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on May 23, 2019 …”
The discussion covered the November coastal rowing event, Brown noted, and “the restoration plan that would be implemented for the Park and dunes following use of the area.”
Brown also wrote of “expected impacts to the project timeline, cost, and safety if the project is constructed with only the northern access at Lido Beach Pavilion.”
He included a map showing modifications to the staging area, which took into account “a relocated and limited footprint to minimize disruption to the Park while ultimately taking into account public safety.”
The county did not send a letter to Brown in response to the proposed modifications, the News Leader learned through its public records request.
The USACE bid package’s staging proposal
On May 16, the USACE published its solicitation package for the Lido Beach renourishment initiative. Since then, it has repeatedly pushed back the timeline for responses from interested companies. The original deadline was June 19. The latest amendment, published on July 18, set July 30 as the deadline.
One of the more recent amendments incorporated revised language in the package to allow the contractor to “scrape” the existing beach in front of the Lido Pavilion and Pool. That would be allowed, the package said, if the contractor needs to cover the existing rock groin that extends offshore of the southern part of the renourishment area, so the contractor can transport equipment over the groin.
The amendment specified, “Scraping shall be uniform throughout the area to avoid holes, ruts, etc. and not excavated below mean high water … The temporary sand ramp shall be of the Contractor’s own design,” the amendment continued, “and shall be constructed so as to ensure the existing rock groin is not damaged from equipment traversing over it. Any damage to the existing groin that occurs due to … equipment traversing it, shall be repaired at the Contractor’s expense.”
The amendment added, “The scraped area shall be filled back to its approximate pre-scraped condition within 2 calendar days from the commencement of fill operations.”
In April, the City of Sarasota completed an emergency renourishment project on Lido Beach; part of the new sand covered the area in front of the pavilion and pool.
Approximately 205,000 cubic yards of sand was removed from New Pass for the emergency initiative, which involved slightly more than 1 mile of the beach.
City Manager Tom Barwin has pointed out that city leaders hope the emergency project will keep the shoreline stable until the long-term USACE project can begin. Barwin also has talked numerous times of the expectation that the USACE renourishment effort would begin this fall.