Anderson explains to city commissioners that county staff needs to put more focus on new growth
A Sarasota County Commission strategic planning item for this year, regarding the county’s returning stormwater responsibilities to the City of Sarasota in the not-too-distant future, appears to have caught Sarasota city commissioners off guard.
The news came on March 28, as the commissions were conducting their first joint meeting in nearly a decade. The session was held in the Think Tank of the County Administration Center in downtown Sarasota.
Spencer Anderson, director of the county’s Public Works Department, explained that, during their December 2024 retreat, when they agreed on priorities for 2025, the county commissioners called for staff to undertake a thorough evaluation of the 1998 interlocal agreement (ILA) with the City of Sarasota that put county staff in charge of stormwater management for both local governments.
In 2022, Anderson continued, when the County Commission approved updated Stormwater Environmental Utility (SEU) assessments within the city and the county — the first time since 2008 that such an undertaking had been pursued — the county ended up adding 87 square miles of the unincorporated areas of the county to the service area. That was a 40% increase, he added.
Those assessments, Anderson said, do “create a very stable fund” for his department to use in stormwater maintenance in the city and the unincorporated areas of the county.
Before 2022, he noted, the SEU service area encompassed 216 square miles, with 25.2 of those square miles — 12% — within the city’s jurisdiction.
In the aftermath of the 2024 hurricane season, he continued, the County Commission has directed staff to focus on making the county more storm-resilient, especially in regard to preventing future neighborhood flooding.
Moreover, Anderson said, “As development has moved farther east, there is now a higher level of service expectation from our population … that we provide services in those [county] areas.”
Given the level of service expectations in the city, he added, plus the demand for service in a wider area of the county, “We came to the conclusion that it does make sense for the county to suggest that we move away from providing services within the city.”
Anderson offered two potential options for ending the interlocal agreement:
- Choose a specific date for termination of the agreement, such as the Oct. 1, 2027 start of the 2028 fiscal year.
- End the county’s responsibilities in the city over a three-year period, with withdrawal from the three specific city zones during that time, based on zip codes.
County Administrator Jonathan Lewis did note that he and his staff already have been planning for a discussion of that topic with the County Commission before it takes its annual summer break, which will start on July 10.
‘Blindsided’
In response to a Sarasota News Leader inquiry this week, regarding whether county staff had had any discussion of the proposal with city staff prior to the March 28 meeting, Anderson wrote in an April 7 email, “County staff had verbal communications with the deputy city manager [Patrick Robinson] and city engineer [Nikesh Patel] regarding the matter prior to 3/28/25.”
Moreover, Anderson pointed out, the agenda packet for the joint meeting was published on March 21 on the county’s website; “it included the March 28 [PowerPoint] presentation” on the stormwater issue.
Additionally, Anderson noted, the information about the agenda items was “sent directly to City staff as detailed in the attached email.”
That email chain included a March 21 exchange between Wendy Mastripolito, the agenda coordinator for the County Commission and the Office of the County Administrator, and Alexya Bolanos, the city’s executive assistant, which included a link to the March 28 agenda packet on the county website. Bolanos acknowledged the link, telling Mastripolito, “I appreciate you sending me this information.”
Yet, at 8:17 a.m. on March 28, Vice Mayor Debbie Trice sent interim City Manager Doug Jeffcoat an email about the stormwater issue, writing, “I just read attached article that the aim of County discussion this morning is to turn storm water management back to the city. I feel blindsided. Briefings on pros and cons and feasibility BEFORE meeting with the county would have been useful.”
She was referencing a WSLR News report by Ramon Lopez. Among its details were the following statements: “An interlocal agreement currently provides for consolidated stormwater management between the city and county. The pact lays out responsibility for capital improvements to the stormwater system such as repairs.
“But due to limited resources, the county stormwater brass is recommending termination of the interlocal agreement. They want to turn over responsibility of stormwater management within the city of Sarasota back to the city.”
In response to a News Leader request in regard to the apparent lack of knowledge of the issue among the city commissioners — in light of Anderson’s comments about county staff outreach to city staff — Jan Thornburg, the general manager of the city’s Communications Department, wrote in an April 8 email, “There were no specific details that could be shared with City Commissioners at that time or can be now. The County staff recommendation first will need to go to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration before specifics about pros, cons and feasibility can emerge regarding the interlocal agreement.”
On April 7, City Commissioner Ahearn-Koch brought up the stormwater topic again, during her remarks as part of her board’s regular meeting that day.
“The stormwater topic is a big one,” she said, adding that she believes she and her colleagues should have a discussion about during a future regular meeting.
Ahearn-Koch specifically cited her interest in the timeline and how the city should prepare for “that major ‘acquiring’ — ‘re-acquiring’? … Cost is a big [issue].”
During the joint meeting on March 28, at the end of Anderson’s presentation, Ahearn-Koch told him, “I have many, many questions, as you can imagine.” She asked whether he had any details other than those he had shared that morning.
Further, she said that she expected that the city’s taking over its stormwater responsibilities will be “quite large in dollars,” with the anticipation, too, that more city staff will be needed. “I’m not really sure what we’re in for here.”
Anderson replied that he had no further details at that point. However, he added that the annual stormwater assessments of city property owners bring in approximately $4 million.
He also noted, “The city may be looking for a different level of service than what the county currently provides.”
In the past, Anderson said, county and city staff members had talked about the possibility of implementing different assessments for the city and the county.
‘Invest 90L,’ Debby and maintenance
During his March 28 presentation, Anderson stressed that the “primary focus” for his department, in regard to stormwater infrastructure, is “making sure that we are prepared for this coming hurricane season.”
In fact, he asked the city commissioners to let county staff know of any areas of concern about which they are aware or about which their constituents have conveyed concerns to them.
“We are absolutely getting inundated with service requests,” Anderson continued. “We’re doing our best to maximize resources to get out in the areas of the city and the county that we are responsible for.”
He did explain that the annual stormwater assessments do not pay for large capital projects. Separate assessments cover those expenses, he added.
Providing a bit of history to the city and county commissioners, Anderson noted that the county’s Stormwater Environmental Utility, which was established in 1989, was the first such county initiative in the state.
Before 2014, he continued, “We had invested nearly $80 million in stormwater infrastructure upgrades in the city and county.” A number of those took place in Hudson and Whitaker bayous within the city’s jurisdiction, he said.
Further, the city-county interlocal agreement calls for the county to handle all repair services that are not routine but are of an urgent nature “necessary to sustain the operation of the stormwater system … for collection, conveyance, storage, and treatment of all stormwater runoff.”
That work, plus ditch cleanings and other types of maintenance, Anderson explained, are planned “to keep our stormwater system operating before, during and after storms, of course, but on a day-to-day basis, as well.”
He also stressed that the extra 87 square miles of county stormwater area “is significant,” adding, “We are now out in that 87 miles, performing regular maintenance” on stormwater culverts, stormwater ditches and stormwater canals.
No maintenance was undertaken in that area in the past, Anderson noted, because “it was largely rural …”
Anderson also talked about the effects of the 2024 storm season, including what the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center referred to as the “Invest 90L” storm in June 2024, which “generally swamped the city of Sarasota” and St. Armands Circle.
That was followed by Tropical Storm Debby in August, Hurricane Helene in September and Hurricane Milton in October 2024, he noted.
In the aftermath of those events, Anderson acknowledged, staff learned “there are some areas where we need to do better,” in regard to stormwater maintenance.
Nonetheless, he emphasized, the 2024 storms produced flooding that exceeded the level of service that the county’s stormwater system was designed to handle. In fact, Anderson pointed out, ‘Invest 90L’ and Tropical Storm Debby both produced rainfall that was “well beyond the 10 inches in 24 hours that is the county’s adopted level of service.”
County staff already is working on resolving problems identified in Phillippi Creek, he continued. He and his staff also have been working with city staff on city projects that potentially could be funded by the $201-million federal grant the county was awarded in January to handle unmet needs in the wake of Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
In the county’s draft “Action Plan” for those new funds, the County Commission dedicated $57,089,300 for “Infrastructure & Public Facilities” within the county, other local government jurisdictions in the county and nonprofit organizations, with another $75 million allocated to the “Dredging of Major Waterways.”
On April 22, the County Commission is scheduled to have another discussion of the draft plan, with staff to present the remarks received during a mandatory 30-day public comment period on the proposals.
Following Anderson’s March 28 presentation, city Commissioner Ahearn-Koch also asked whether the city would receive any equipment from the county, to assist with its taking over its stormwater responsibilities in the future.
“Our current thoughts on that,” Anderson replied, is that the county would keep all of its equipment, given the need to serve the extra 87 square miles of area added to its stormwater program since 2022. “We have added a few staff,” he said, but no new equipment.
“Interesting,” Ahearn-Koch replied.