Details provided about updated USACE permit for dredging of upper portion of Phillippi Creek
On Monday, June 30, during a news media briefing, Sarasota County Public Works Director Spencer Anderson appeared to put the blame on county residents who live along waterways for lack of maintenance in those waterways, including Phillippi Creek.
He referred to a program that he had explained to the commissioners during their third stormwater workshop, held on May 21. Dating to 2001, he explained, it required a certain percentage of the affected residents to sign petitions calling for specific undertakings, with all of the residents in the area of the dredging to be taxed for it.
Yet, that program was designed for making sure waterways remained navigable, as he reported to the commissioners in late May. It was not focused on the removal of sediment from waterways.
While details about the program, as found in Chapter 54, Section XXX of the County Code, do mention the removal of sediment, The Sarasota News Leaderfound, that language appears to the News Leader to be in the context of making certain the waterways are easily navigable for boaters:
On June 30, Anderson also emphasized that residents who live in floodplains should purchase federal flood insurance.
And while he did stress that staff was undertaking necessary stormwater maintenance, he also appeared to put the blame on the federal government for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) denial of a county application for an emergency permit for the dredging of high spots in Phillippi Creek.
Federal guidelines allow for only small quantities of sediment to be addressed with emergency permits, Anderson told those assembled at the county’s Emergency Operations Center on June 30 for the briefing. He indicated that 50 cubic yards was the maximum.
After the deadline for the June 27 issue of The Sarasota News Leader — which included details from the USACE about what apparently was the county’s original application for dredging in Phillippi Creek from 1,200 feet east of U.S. 41 to Beneva Road — Anderson reported to the commissioners the evening of June 26 that he had spent about an hour on the phone with USACE representatives. As a result, the federal agency had begun advertising a new permit application that entails plans for far more sediment removal than the first one did.
This is the email — which the county Communications staff released to the news media — that he sent the board members at 6:18 p.m. on Thursday, June 26:
During the County Commission’s July 1 budget workshop, Anderson also pointed out that the USACE permitting process entails a mandatory review by the National Marine Fisheries Service in regard to the potential effects of the dredging on endangered species. That will take six to eight months, he added.
In response to that, Commissioner Mark Smith said, “I find it incredibly ironic” that such an analysis is necessary in the case of Phillippi Creek. Smith added that he believes no fish exist in the waterway, given the level of silt that has built up over the decades.
The email chain released to the news media last week also shows that, on the morning of June 27, Anderson emailed Jennifer L. Alexander, a biologist with the Tampa Section of the USACE Regulatory Division, thanking her for speaking with him the prior day. He also asked Alexander whether his June 26 email to the commissioners was accurate in summing up the permit situation.
She did point out that the agency with which the USACE consults in regard to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is the National Marine Fisheries Protected Resources Division (PRD).
She then confirmed, “[D]ue to the size and volume, as well as the location of the dredge, the Corps only has one option to permit this project which is the Standard Permit process.”
Finally, she informed him that the notice of the revised permit application had been posted, providing the link to it: https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices/Article/4227054/saj-2025-01036-sp-jla/
As the News Leader reported last week, the formal notice that the USACE advertised from June 9 through June 23 said, “The applicant requests authorization to dredge Phillippi Creek to -4 below Mean Low Water (MLW) and remove 9,480 square feet (35,906 cubic yards) of substrate using a shallow barge. Material will be stored within containers on the barge and within an upland material management site until dry, then dredged material will be disposed of at an approved upland landfill or used for roadway expansion projects.”
The new notice points out, “The applicant requests authorization to dredge Phillippi Creek to -4 below Mean Low Water (MLW) and remove 16,848 square feet (63,827 cubic yards) of substrate using a shallow barge.”
The notice also makes it clear that public comments will be accepted until July 18. It adds, “Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Jennifer Alexander at Jennifer.L.Alexander@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention: Jennifer Alexander, 10117 Princess Palm Avenue Suite 120 Tampa, Florida 33610. Please refer to the permit application number in your comments.” The number is SAJ-2025-01036 (SP-JLA).
‘Historical flooding of Phillippi Creek’
During the June 30 media briefing, at one point, Anderson also told those present and watching online, “I think what everybody needs to understand is the historical flooding of Phillippi Creek is a long-term issue.” As demonstrated, he added, “It is something that will happen.”
Then Anderson pointed to what he indicated was unprecedented rainfall from Tropical Storm Debby in early August 2024. He likened that to a 1,000-year storm event, while the county’s stormwater program is based on planning for the prevention of flooding during events with no more than 10 inches of rainfall in 24 hours.
“We have the best level of stormwater service protection in the state of Florida,” Anderson maintained.
During an Aug. 27, 2024 presentation to the County Commission, Rich Collins, director of the county’s Emergency Services Department, presented slides and a video to underscore staff’s expectation that the rainfall Debby would produce would be in the 6- to 8-inch range, based on information from the National Weather Service (NWS). That also was predicted to take place over five days, Collins said.
Instead, as Collins noted, the highest level recorded in the county was more than 18 inches, and that covered the period of approximately 36 hours, through about midday on Monday, Aug. 5.
(Last year, the News Leader filed a public records request with the county, seeking copies of the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service forecasts regarding Tropical Storm Debby that Collins of Emergency Services and county Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tapfumaneyi had received. In reviewing this materials, ghe News Leader did find this county notice, which discussed the potential for up to 12 inches of rain from Debby:
During the June 30 media briefing, Anderson said that about 1,000 homes in the county flooded during the inundation attributed to Tropical Storm Debby.
When one reporter asked about the Cowpen Slough dike that failed, which led to flooding of the Laurel Meadows community at the intersection of Palmer Boulevard and Lorraine Road, Anderson replied, “We have to know about something in order to address it.”
A stormwater engineer with his own consulting firm in Sarasota, Stephen Suau reported last fall that he found the breach in that berm as he was undertaking an independent analysis of the flooding that ensued during the 2024 storm season. The dike is a decades-old structure, he pointed out. It was created between Phillippi Creek and Cowpen Slough.
Suau provided the County Commission a report about his findings and recommendations when the board held its first stormwater workshop, in late January. (See the related article in this issue.)
Highlights of recent stormwater work and staff expertise
At the outset of the media briefing, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis announced a staffing change that the News Leader reported last week: Assistant County Administrator Mark Cunningham has been reassigned to Public Works to assist Anderson with stormwater issues. Public Works has been one of the county departments over which Cunningham has had oversight, Lewis noted.
Further, Lewis said that he was relieving Anderson of any Public Works responsibilities except for those related to stormwater. Thus, other staff in that department will handle its transportation work, Lewis added.
Among other comments that Anderson made during the June 30 briefing, he reported that the Stormwater Division team had completed nearly 2,000 maintenance tasks.
Along Cowpen Slough, he added, more than 65 cubic yards of sediment had been removed, as staff worked to maintain more than 7,600 linear feet of that stormwater system.
Last week, Anderson continued, workers removed about 1,000 cubic yards of sediment along Phillippi Creek under Beneva Road.
The News Leader learned through a public records request, which was completed last week, that updates about the county’s stormwater initiatives are being provided on webpages through the county website: https://sarasota-county-fl.civilspace.io/en/projects/stormwater-updates
Further, Anderson pointed out during the briefing, 87 employees support the work of the Stormwater Division. Altogether, he said, they have almost 1,500 years of experience, with 857 of those in direct public service on behalf of the county.
Forty-three members of the staff, Anderson added, have college or post-graduate degrees.
Among the workers, he noted, are six certified floodplain professionals; the department also has 49 stormwater operator certifications.
He told the County Commission at the start of its July 1 budget workshop, “I think anyone would be hard-pressed to find a public organization with a team that has credentials, experience and professionalism that exceeds what we have here in Sarasota County.”
Additionally, he pointed out to the commissioners that day, the Public Works staff members serve as “an accredited team of first responders that are the first ones in after a major natural disaster to provide relief and recovery for our residents …”
Moreover, he emphasized during the media briefing, “The entire team has been accredited through the American Public Works Association for nearly five years. This is a rigorous accreditation process,” he said, which County Administrator Jonathan Lewis had urged the Public Works Department to pursue.