- April 17, 2024
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As workers Wednesday, Nov. 16, began construction of the new wrought-iron fence at the intersection of Treasure Boat Way and Ocean Boulevard, they struck a gas line, a county staff member informed representatives of Siesta organizations.
The workers were just digging out the third hole for the fence posts, wrote Tom Maroney, county general manager of business operations and public works, wrote in an email.
“The plan is to reconstruct the current (fence) until we have exact locations for (the gas company’s) lines,” Maroney added, referring to a temporary wooden fence that went up before Halloween.
Although county staff had requested and received location information for the gas line, Maroney indicated, apparently staff needed to reconfirm that data. Therefore, he wrote, he felt it best to delay the installation of the new fence until after the Thanksgiving holiday, “to avoid interfering with planned events.”
Light Up the Village, the Siesta Key Village Association’s biggest event of the year, will be held Saturday, Nov. 26. The holiday festival typically draws large numbers of children and parents to the Key for visits with Santa Claus and other seasonal activities.
“I am worried,” Maroney added in the email, “that the (gas) line, wherever it is, may cause us to rethink the (fence) design. I’ll keep you informed.”
The wrought-iron fence was planned to replace a wooden fence installed in 2009 as part of the Village beautification effort. That wooden fence had been vandalized so many times in the past year that most of its posts were missing. Representatives of the SKVA and the Siesta Key Association had sought the county’s help in getting a replacement that would be sturdier.
Because the county contractor ran into supply problems for the wrought-iron fence, the contractor, at no additional expense to the county, had put up a new wooden fence in late October to ease concerns about pedestrian safety along the boardwalk from the north end of the Village to Treasure Boat Way.
