Phase 2 still expected to get underway late this year or in early 2027
Phase 1 of Sarasota County’s Phillippi Creek dredging initiative remains on track for completion in June, Ben Quartermaine, director of the county’s Stormwater Department, reported to the County Commission during its regular meeting this week, which was held in Venice.
The contractor is “demobilizing now,” he said on May 19.
Phase 1, he reminded the commissioners, “re-establishes the efficacy of the channel.” The focus, Quartermaine noted, was removal of the “high spots” created by sediment in the section of the waterway between U.S. 41 and South Beneva Road.
Altogether, Quartermaine continued, the contractor removed 60,000 cubic yards of sediment. To put that in perspective, he said, that much material would fill 8,000 dump trucks or stand 30 feet deep on a football field.
“It’s a tremendous amount of material,” Quartermaine stressed.
Moreover, he reported, the project removed more than 40,000 pounds of total nitrogen. In addition to the value of the undertaking in terms of flood control, he told the commissioners, it is also has improved water quality.
Nitrogen has been identified by researchers as the primary “food” for the red tide algae.
When Phase 2 of the dredging gets underway, staff will continue to track the removal of total nitrogen, Quartermaine added.
(In a county video update released this week about the results of Phase 1, Quartermaine said that staff expects 100,000 to 120,000 cubic yards of material to be removed from the creek during Phase 2. That initiative will include removal of three “oxbows” in the creek, about which residents have expressed worries in regard to storm surge flooding, as well as an area north of a dam in Phillippi Creek, Quartermaine added.)
In a May 12 email to the commissioners, which The Sarasota News Leader read in the board’s public email folder, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis passed on other information from the Stormwater staff about the Phase 1 work, with emphasis: “206,481 pounds of total phosphorus was removed from the creek.” (Phosphorus also is food for the red tide algae.)
“To help visualize the magnitude of these removals,” the email continued, “the average car today weighs approximately 4,000 pounds. This means the nutrient removal is equivalent to removing the weight of approximately:
- “10 average cars in total nitrogen.
- “51 average cars in total phosphorus.
“Stormwater staff will continue monitoring and reporting pollutant load removals as additional projects move forward, including future phases of the Phillippi Creek dredging program as well as upcoming Whitaker and Hudson Bayou projects,” the email said. The latter two undertakings will be in the city of Sarasota.
During his May 19 remarks to the commissioners, Quartermaine also reported that the application for the permits needed for Phase 2 — which has been characterized as the “maximum allowable dredge” in the creek — “will be submitted by the end of this month.”
Further, he said, he and his staff have been working closely with representatives of the West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND), which is based in Venice. WCIND has been overseeing the dredging of the creek from its mouth to U.S. 41, Quartermaine reminded the commissioners.
The contractor for that initiative has been using part of the county-owned Phillippi Estate Park, which stands at 5500 S. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota, for temporary storage of the dredge materials, Quartermaine said. However, he pointed out, “None of the park activities are affected.”
Noting what he would characterize as, “I guess, angst” of Phillippi Creek residents about the fact that the permit applications had not already been filed, Commissioner Mark Smith asked Quartermaine about the reason for the delay.
Quartermaine reminded Smith that, over the past few months, Quartermaine has reported to the commissioners that staff expects to have the permits in hand so the Phase 2 dredging can begin late this year or in early 2027. The main issue, he indicated, has been the islands in the waterway that were created by sediment buildup. “These islands,” Quartermaine explained, “have some well-established vegetation and some habitat on them, having been there for decades, literally.”
That situation necessitated a longer permitting process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), he has pointed out in the past.
Staff also needs a permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, as the Phillippi Creek Dredge webpages on the county website note.
He and other county staff members meet regularly with the engineering consultant hired to assist them with the dredging project, Quartermaine continued; he also had met with a USACE representative within the past 30 days. As a result, he said, he still expects to have the permits in hand by the end of the year.
Where has the dredge material been taken?
This week, the News Leader inquired of county staff about where the Phillippi Creek dredge spoils will end up.
On May 20, staff of the Stormwater and Transportation departments collaborated on the following details, county Public Information Officer Emily Blaine wrote:
- 1. “Temporary storage — Dredge material from the Phillippi Creek High Spot project (Phase 1) is being temporarily stockpiled at several locations throughout the Phillippi Creek basin, primarily at county facilities including Southgate and Pinecraft Park, as well as other sites where easements for temporary stockpiling were obtained.
- “2. Temporary stockpiling — Through an agreement with the property owner, material is being stockpiled on a vacant property adjacent to the undeveloped Lorraine Road right-of-way between Fruitville Road and Palmer Boulevard.
- “3. Final destination — The material will not be going to a landfill. Instead, it will be repurposed as road fill for two upcoming county road projects, Lorraine Road (Palmer [Boulevard] to Fruitville [Road]) and Fruitville Road (Debrecen [Road] to Lorraine). This is expected to save the county several million dollars.”
The response further pointed out, “The dual benefit of this approach is worth noting for your readers: using dredge material as road fill reduces hauling and disposal costs for the dredge project, while simultaneously providing the road projects with usable fill material at significant savings.”
Staffing needs and City of Sarasota work
On another point during his May 19 remarks, Quartermaine reported that he and his staff had updated the department’s portion of the county’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP), as part of their work necessary to preparation of the county’s 2027 fiscal year budget.
The Stormwater Department’s Sediment Management and Abatement Program will be part of the revised CIP, he added.
He and his stall also have been discussing with other county staff and interested parties potential levels of service in regard to handling sediment buildup in the waterways, he noted.
Regarding another issue, Quartermaine told the board members, “We have several vacancies” among the Stormwater operational staff. “We’re working feverishly to fill those.”
Quartermaine paused to extend his appreciation to Steve Suau of Sarasota, a stormwater engineering consultant who had been hired by the county to review the department’s capital program and the Stormwater Environmental Utility as a whole. “He was really helpful,” Quartermaine emphasized.
City of Sarasota initiatives
Turning to City of Sarasota work — as the county department handles the city’s stormwater maintenance and initiatives under the terms of an interlocal agreement — Quartermaine reported that, in the 2025 fiscal year, staff completed 4,851 inspections. Altogether, the expense was $4.5 million, he said. Of that amount, $2.9 million covered staff time, materials and equipment usage. The remaining $1.6 million was for contracted services.
However, Quartermaine said, the figures he had cited did not cover the cost of the work of part of his staff.
Further, he told the commissioners, “We’ve completed modifications to the generators on St. Armands,” which has “hardened” them, “so they can withstand a bigger impact than with previous [storm] events.”
Further, Quartermaine reported, he and other Stormwater staff members have met with various groups regarding the Resilient SRQ dredging projects in Whitaker and Hudson bayous in the city of Sarasota and the improvements planned for St. Armands Key.
In November 2025, the commissioners approved those City of Sarasota initiatives, with funding coming out of the nearly $210.1 million that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the county in January 2025 to deal with unmet needs resulting from the strikes by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the fall of 2024. The county program is called Resilient SRQ.
He and his staff also have been working closely with City of Sarasota staff on those projects, Quartermaine indicated.
Commissioner Teresa Mast said she believes “it’s very critical” for the county commissioners to talk about the Stormwater Department’s levels of service in the city and the level of assessments that the county charges city property owners for the work, as Quartermaine had noted that expenses in the city had surpassed the assessment revenue.
“We want to be fair and equitable across the board to everybody,” she pointed out, referencing the county government’s responsibilities to residents living not just along Phillippi Creek and in the city, but along other waterways in the unincorporated areas of the county, as well.
Transparency should be a key part of the process, as well, Mast said.