Condominium Council leaders had been advocating for action
As part of their Consent Agenda of routine business matters during their regular meeting on Aug. 25, the Sarasota County commissioners will vote on whether to authorize “a feasibility study to evaluate coastal barrier island flooding” on Siesta Key.
The contract with WSP USA Inc. would cost the county $446,855, a county staff memo says. No additional funding will be needed for the initiative, the memo points out; the money will come out of the Stormwater Environmental Utility Fund’s approved budget.
“In 2024, the Siesta Key barrier island experienced significant flood impacts during a very active hurricane season,” the staff memo adds. “Near the end of the hurricane season, the Siesta Key community reached out to the Stormwater Department to solicit solutions to mitigate the flooding impacts, especially for the evacuation routes.”
The Stormwater staff completed a Roberts Bay North Coastal Fringe Study in 2015, the memo continues. However, it notes, many of the areas affected by the 2024 hurricanes “were not evaluated in that study. In order to address the flooding concerns and evacuation routes of the Siesta Key community, Stormwater staff is seeking to utilize the professional services of WSP USA Inc. to conduct a detailed flood study for the entire Siesta Key barrier island to identify solutions to improve/eliminate the street and structure flood level of service deficiencies in the vicinity of the evacuation routes,” the memo points out.
In an Aug. 10 newsletter emailed to their members, leaders of the Siesta Key Condominium Council (SKCC) noted the proposed contract, adding that the engineering study, if approved, would be “expected to take approximately one year to complete.”
The Condominium Council represents more than 7,000 households in approximately 100 associations, its leaders have told the County Commission.
The newsletter added, “[T]he consultant will evaluate existing drainage conditions, identify potential improvements, and develop alternatives to reduce flooding.” The project also will entail a public meeting, when proposed alternatives will be presented, with residents having the opportunity to provide comments before recommendations are finalized, the newsletter said.
“Following completion of the study, alternatives that demonstrate meaningful flood reduction, achieve a favorable benefit-to-cost ratio (greater than 1.0), and receive positive public support will be considered for future capital improvement funding and implementation,” the newsletter pointed out.
The Condominium Council “has been a strong advocate for a Stormwater Study on Siesta Key and drainage improvements to reduce flooding and improve resiliency,” the newsletter explained. The Council lobbied for the inclusion of areas with recurring flooding where construction predated the 1989 establishment of the county’s Stormwater program, the newsletter added.
Owners of both condominiums and single-family homes “have sought help,” the newsletter said, with the Council and other nonprofit organizations on the barrier island having raised concerns.
Sarasota County Stormwater Department Director Ben Quartermaine and his staff have made improvements in stormwater maintenance, the newsletter acknowledged. (Quartermaine began work in August 2025, after the County Commission directed County Administrator Jonathan Lewis to set up a new department to deal solely with stormwater issues.)
Further, the newsletter noted that “several communities have been vocal in their need for Resiliency funds.” The latter phrase is a reference to the nearly $210.1-million grant that the county received in early 2025 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HDU), through its Community Development Block Grant Program, to aid the county in handling unmet needs in the aftermath of the 2024 hurricane season.
“Resiliency funding ‘is earmarked for disaster recovery, infrastructure improvements and risk mitigation,’ ” the newsletter pointed out. “Certainly, this is needed on the Key. Bed tax is supposed to aid tourism, and Hurricanes like Helene and Milton cost the Key, its residents and Sarasota hundreds of millions in damage and lost revenue. “
The newsletter explained that Siesta Key vies with the City of Sarasota each year to determine which of them will end up turning over the greatest portion of the county’s Tourist Development Tax — or, “bed tax” — money to the county. Yet, in spite of the revenue that the county receives from the island as a result of that 6% tax on rentals of accommodations, the newsletter added, Siesta Key “has not received funding necessary for new drainage improvements and flood control. Hopefully, this is changing.”
“The hurricanes illustrated that improving drainage, reducing flooding and mitigating risk are major factors in protecting tourism,” the newsletter noted.
Under the heading of “What can citizens do?” the newsletter added, “It’s important to let County Commissioners know, even by email, that this study is important, and that many support it.”
The County Commission will conduct its Aug. 25 meeting in the new County Administration Center standing at 1 Apex Road in Sarasota, near the Celery Fields. In fact, that will be the board’s first official meeting in that facility.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader request for a comment on the proposed study, Neal Schleifer, acting president of the Condominium Council, wrote in an Aug. 17 email, “This Siesta Key Drainage Improvements Study is much needed and welcomed by the Siesta Key community. We have already received positive feedback about this recommendation to Commissioners by our stormwater department. Other County neighborhoods have received help to prevent and mitigate flooding. There are areas on the Key with recurrent problems that deserve attention as well. Once recommendations are identified, they will still need to be implemented, so the community will need to remain informed and engaged to help ensure improvements become reality.”
The scope of work
The work assignment for WSP, provided in the backup materials for the County Commission’s Aug. 25 meeting, explains that the firm is to “review available data for this analysis, including the existing 2025 StormWise model for Phillippi Creek, the Roberts Bay North Coastal Watershed Management Plan report, existing survey data, environmental resource permits (ERP), roadway classifications, existing stormwater inventory, digital elevation models (DEM), and Historical Flood Complaints from Sarasota County.”
It also calls for WSP to “identify areas where additional surveys would be useful, as needed” and “to coordinate with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to gather information on areas that were originally designed and maintained by the state, such as Midnight Pass Road and Higel Avenue.”
Further, the work assignment says that WSP is expected to provide county staff “a draft report that will detail the existing data review, inventory of data resources, and identification of areas of survey need …”
Task 2, the document continues, calls for WSP to “review the existing StormWise model to determine if the level of detail included is adequate for the site-specific or roadway analysis. It is assumed that the existing StormWise model is calibrated and appropriate for use as the starting point for this analysis.”
Further, it notes, “Per Sarasota County’s request, WSP shall evaluate the model area along Midnight Pass Road and Higel Avenue to determine if existing terrain data can be used to develop an updated model. WSP shall conduct roadway LOS [level of service] analysis for roadways within Siesta Key, in accordance with methods described in Sarasota County’s Unified Development Code (UDC) … and the guidelines in the Sarasota County Stormwater Model (2024).”
(The UDC contains all of the county’s zoning and land-use regulations.)
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) uses letter grades — similar to report card grades — to indicate the amount of congestion that motorists perceive on specific road segments. Level of Service A means the least congestion, with LOS F the worst.
Task 4 in the Work Assignment notes the following “Flooding Areas of Concern”:
- 8100 block of Midnight Pass Road.
- 6600 block of Midnight Pass Road.
- Ocean Boulevard/Banan Place/Higel Avenue.
- Island Circle/Grand Canal area.
- “Midnight Pass Road-Higel Avenue-Siesta Drive Evacuation Corridor.
- “1122 Horizon View Drive.
- “Sabal Lake Area (Old Stickney Point Road and Sabal Drive/Peacock Road),” which is on the southern portion of the island.
Moreover, the assignment calls for WSP to “identify additional Flooding Areas of Concern, not to exceed fifteen (15) areas total, as necessary based on existing model results, roadway classifications, LOS analysis results, flood depths, documented flooding problems, and previously identified flooding areas in the Roberts Bay North Coastal Watershed Management Plan Final Report that do not have conceptual solutions already developed.”
The firm’s report on those findings is to include “a ranked list of Flooding Areas of Concern,” the document says.
Further, WSP is to create concept-level alternatives to address flooding problems at each identified Flooding Area of Concern, with up to two alternatives developed per site. The document adds, “WSP shall document each alternative with a description of the proposed project as well as its advantages and disadvantages.”
The company also will be charged with developing “proposed model scenarios for each concept-level alternative in StormWise to analyze the benefits and flood reduction associated with each alternative. WSP will model the 2.33-year/24-hour, 5-year/24-hour, 10-year/24-hour, 25-year/24-hour, and 100-year/24-hour storm events for each proposed scenario,” that section directs the company.
The work assignment calls, as well, for WSP to “develop an engineer’s estimate of probable cost for each concept-level alternative utilizing estimates of construction quantities, labor and material rates, equipment expenses, and construction contingencies for use in budget planning purposes.”
WSP also will be required to conduct one or more meetings with Ocean Boulevard-Banan Place-Higel Avenue “area groups,” the work assignment notes.