Q+A with Juan Florensa

Longboat Key Public Works Director Juan Florensa’s department is responsible for the island’s 12-mile stretch of sand — but don’t think his job is just a day at the beach.

He oversees a staff of 20 members who are responsible for utilities, solid waste, town facilities, parks and streets, along with beaches.

Florensa has led the Public Works Department since 2001. He previously served as director of North Port’s Public Works Department for more than 16 years.

Q: How much of your time do you spend on beach projects?
A: About 45% to 50% of the time is spent in one way or another on beach projects, whether it’s working on permits or engineering or coordinating or planning for future beach access. The next highest amount of time is spent on utilities, but it really varies from week to week.

Q: How long did it take to get permits for the beach project at the north end in which two groins will be installed to stop sand loss?
A: The entire process took about two-and-a-half years, although there was an eight-month delay because certain individuals chose to challenge it.

Q: What is your favorite Longboat Key public beach access?
A: The best sunsets, I believe, are at the beach access by the old Poseidon restaurant (3400 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive) about a mile north of Town Hall.

Q: What’s your favorite kind of day on the job at the Public Works Department?
A: When there are no traffic backups on my way home in the afternoon. Every day is a tough day, and every day is a fun day. A favorite type of day is when I’ve accomplished everything I set out to at the beginning of it.

Q: What is the biggest emergency the Public Works Department has responded to during your time as director?
A: Tropical Storm Debby (in 2012) was a big wakeup call to all of us. I didn’t think we would get flooding the way we did. Also, there was a sewer line break on April Fools’ Day in 2011 on Gulf of Mexico Drive near Town Hall. It was undermining Gulf of Mexico Drive. We had to one-lane it for few days at the peak of season and reroute traffic. It was very intense period with very little sleep.

Q: The Public Works Department has a motto: “Whatever it takes!” Did you come up with the motto?
A: No. Neil Martin (who retired in 2009 as Public Works operations manager) came up with that.

Q: What is the biggest complaint you hear from residents?
A: The biggest concern I hear is, “I can’t believe I used that much water last month.” But now, we have Smart Meters that allow us to go to your house and see how much water, by the hour — say, from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. — the resident has used for the past two months. We usually suggest they check their sprinklers or see if they have a leaking toilet.

Q: How do you keep employee morale up in the department?
A: That’s an issue that’s difficult not just for me but for any director in town. We’ve had just a few salary increases over the past four or five years. But we tell (employees) that we appreciate them and that the community appreciates what they do…They realize that elected officials are accountable to the taxpayers…One thing we did in our department was at Christmas time, the department’s four managers took our money and pooled it, and we took our guys out to a local restaurant for drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

Q: In what ways do Public Works employees impact residents’ lives?
A: When you turn on the faucet in the morning, that’s Public Works. When you flush your toilet and the water doesn’t come back up, that’s Public Works. Your parks, your streets and every single town facility…All of that is handled by Public Works…If you have an emergency, you call police or fire. But I think we touch people’s lives on a more regular basis than police or fire.

— Robin Hartill