Candidates sound off on renourishment

At the Lido Key Residents Association’s forum for Sarasota County Commission candidates, one topic was of particular interest to the audience: a proposed project to renourish critically eroded portions of the Lido shoreline.

The project, backed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the city of Sarasota, is an issue of note for the candidates for two reasons: One, the plan would take sand from Big Pass — which has never been dredged. This has drawn concern from Siesta Key residents. Two, the project would place a groin, designed to slow the erosion of the shoreline, on county-owned land along the south of Lido Key.

Currently, the county plans to conduct a third-party review of the Army Corps proposal, and it contributed to a short-term renourishment of the Lido shoreline scheduled for later this year. On Saturday, county commission candidates shared their views on the Army Corps project and other related issues:

DISTRICT 2
Paul Caragiulo (R)
Attended an Army Corps meeting on the Lido renourishment plan: Yes

On hastening the renourishment project:
“I don’t really know what we can do to speed it up. I do know we have to stay on top of it. I think the collaboration that’s been occurring with the city and county recently is exactly the way we should be working here. It’s a big deal, and it took some pictures that aren’t very attractive pictures to show people what we’re dealing with on Lido. This is our earth here; this is where we are. You have to keep communication open.”

Alexandra Coe (NPA)
Attended an Army Corps meeting on the Lido renourishment plan: No

On her experience with renourishment:
“This is one of those issues where it’s important to have people who understand science on the County Commission. I have a very personal relationship with beach renourishment. I own a lot in Englewood where we went through the same thing. The project has turned out very well. They did it in stages and it really has had very little negative impact. There are a lot of successful examples of how to do it right.”

Pete Theisen (Write-In)
Attended an Army Corps meeting on the Lido renourishment plan: No

On renourishing Lido: “This has never not been an issue since I got here. It’s always, always: ‘We need more sand.’ I would advocate drawing a line in the sand and saying this is how much sand we need. When it comes past the line, you add more sand. As long as it’s out there — well, it’s out there.”

On the dredging of Big Pass: “I like the idea of taking it out of the pass, because it makes the pass more passable.”

DISTRICT 4
Al Maio (R)
Attended an Army Corps meeting on the Lido renourishment plan: Yes

On how to move forward with the project: “First of all, you need your beaches restored. That’s critical; that must happen. That’s part of your culture, part of your ownership, part of our lifestyle and that needs to happen. It’s a slow process, and that can be extremely annoying. People on Siesta say time again they have no intention of hurting anyone here — the conflict arises in how do you go about doing this? You need to go slowly.”

John Minder (NPA)
Attended an Army Corps meeting on the Lido renourishment plan: No

On his opposition to the renourishment project: “As a registered professional engineer, I’ve got a lot of concerns about the Army Corps. I think they will come up with a justification for building the groins and for taking the sand out of Big Pass. I totally disagree. I’ve lived here in Sarasota County for the past 33 years. You cannot predict what each storm is going to do to the erosion of the beaches and the private property in Sarasota County… I don’t agree with the conclusions that came from that model and that study. My experience with nature is that you don’t fight nature.”

Ray Porter (D)
Attended an Army Corps meeting on the Lido renourishment plan: No

On the proposed Army Corps project: “This needs to happen. Clearly, we’re at a critical stage — the beach is vanishing…Early indications are that there aren’t impacts on Siesta Key. Areas of (Siesta) Key that used to be eroded are now enormous. It’s done very well.”

On the dredging of Big Pass: “At this point in time, I would definitely support using the Big Pass sand. The peer review is necessary, but we have too much at stake here. It’s an enormous loss if we don’t do something soon here.”