Public would be able to check status of projects in their neighborhoods
During the Sarasota County Commission’s first stormwater workshop this year — which was held on Jan. 21 — stormwater consultant Stephen Suau of Sarasota encouraged the commissioners to ensure that county residents understand how to access and use the Sarasota county Stormwater Map.
Spencer Anderson, then the director of the Public Works Department, within which the Stormwater Division functioned, explained that that map provides information about maintenance schedules.
Anderson indicated on Jan. 21 that his staff was working on making the map accessible to the public, so residents could use it as a resource to check on the status of stormwater maintenance in their neighborhoods — and even provide comments about areas that needed county staff’s attention.
In the intervening months, the map remained inaccessible to the public.
During the County Commission’s fourth stormwater workshop, conducted on Sept. 5, the director of the new county Stormwater Department, Ben Quartermaine, made it clear that one of his priorities is to proceed with the plans explained in January.
As he has stressed in videos that county staff has made available on the county website and on social media, Quartermaine made it clear to the County Commission that transparency in the operations of the Stormwater Department is his primary goal. “I believe the more data that … we can share to the public, the better off we all are.”
He continued, “In that vein, we’ve created an interactive map that allows us to view work that has been completed, work that’s ongoing and work that’s scheduled.”
Quartermaine showed the board members the map and provided them examples of how it works, selecting part of south Venice at one point, to illustrate specific details. Blue shading indicated areas where work had been completed, he said, while a person would be able to click on sections with green shading to see the status of an initiative underway. Finally, he noted, yellow shading marks areas where work is planned.
“My goal,” he pointed out, “is to take all of our work assignments and our work data [and] feed it directly into this map and have it live so that anyone can search their address, look for the stormwater systems that are adjacent to their properties, adjacent to their neighborhood, [and] understand when it was last maintained, [as well as] how it was maintained …”
Some areas, Quartermaine noted, will have multiple types of maintenance indicated, such as inspections and spraying.
He reiterated his earlier comment that people will be able to see all the types of county initiatives near their homes, along with the dates of service.
“I think [this] will go a long way in helping people understand what we are doing,” he told the commissioners.
“This was brought to my attention months and months ago,” Chair Joe Neunder responded. Then Neunder asked Quartermaine to clarify whether the program has been in existence.
Quartermaine confirmed that the map has been in use for over a decade. However, some of the features are relatively new, he added, indicating that was thanks to a software system that county staff has begun using.
Neunder then inquired what residents should do if they have questions about the history of stormwater maintenance in various areas of the county. How far back does the data go, he asked.
“We can look into that,” Quartermaine replied, referring to historical data.
At that point, Commissioner Teresa Mast sought clarification about the work order issue, telling Quartermaine that several of her District 1 constituents had asked her whether the map would show that work orders have been entered for staff to address issues in specific places.
“This is not live yet,” Quartermaine pointed out of the map in regard to public use. Nonetheless, he said, “The intent is to show those work orders,” both those that have originated within his department and those suggested by residents.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader inquiry this week about when the interactive map would become available to the public, the Stormwater Department staff wrote in a Sept. 11 email, “We’re looking forward to sharing this new, dynamic tool with residents. It will be announced when it goes live.”