Longboat Pass dredging solution will be considered today

The town of Longboat Key has reached a conceptual agreement with Manatee County to dredge the authorized channel of Longboat Pass in the future.

Town Manager Bruce St. Denis told a relieved Longboat Key Town Commission Wednesday, May 5, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to dredge the center of the pass instead of the channel that is drifting closer to the island.

“We have reached a tentative agreement to work with Manatee County to fund and permit future dredgings of Longboat Pass at a cost of up to $2 million,” said St. Denis, who explained the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to dredge the channel in 2011 and pay for mobilization and demobilization costs.

Future dredgings, however, would be the town and the county’s responsibility.

Longboat Key Commissioners and town staff are expected to discuss the concept at a West Coast Inland Navigation District meeting this afternoon.

For more information, pick up a copy of the Thursday, May 13, edition of The Longboat Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].