Sand trucks send shockwaves off island

Longboat Key resident Bob Gault is all about aesthetics on the island.

As one of the champions of the two undergrounding projects, he helped sell the more than $50 million plans to put overhead power lines underground. That’s why he’s speaking out about the mid-Key truck haul, which brings nearly 200 trucks onto Gulf of Mexico Drive throughout the day to bring sand to renourish local beaches.

“They are noisey, they are smelly, and I perceive they are dangerous, because they are heavily loaded with sand,” said Gault, who acknowledged the Town Commission is faced with a quandary when it comes to beach projects.

The problem: Spend additional money searching for sand in the Gulf of Mexico, or truck sand in from a loaded mine in Immokalee. Last year, the town elected to do the latter, because Longboat Pass and New Pass did not have enough mineable sand to renourish the mid-island beaches.

Gault said he thinks the truck caravan gives tourists and those looking for a new home on the Key a bad impression.

“I’m just anxious the town to keep studying this issue,” Gault said. “There just has to be a better way.”

After three years on St. Armands Circle, Scott Gerber is packing up his Tube Dude sculptures and heading back to downtown.

While the creator of the quirky, colorful metallic figures cites a variety of factors forcing him out of St. Armands Circle, one sticks out most to him: the rumbling caravan of dump trucks transporting sand to Longboat.

The project, in which trucks travel onto and off the Key from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, should be finished by July 20, said Longboat Key Public Works Director Juan Florensa. But by the second week of September, an emergency truck haul targeting the areas in front of L’Ambiance and the Resort at Longboat Key Club will begin.

Earth Tech Enterprises Inc. will take up to 20 days — weather permitting — to truck an additional 50,000 cubic yards of sand to the south end of the Key.

Island officials, including Mayor Jack Duncan, said they have heard few complaints from Key residents about the truck haul, besides “one or two” from people on the mainland.

“We have had hardly any questions thrown us,” Duncan said. “For all intents and purposes it’s gone extremely well, and I have to attribute some of that to the public outreach.”

But Gerber said the trucks are so loud he can’t converse with customers, and that the caravan sheds dirt from their wheels and sand from their load when they roll through the Circle. Further, he said, they speed through the pedestrian-heavy area.

“I swear to God I’m going deaf,” said Gerber, who has signed a two-year lease to move into the former Victoria Blooms cottage on Main Street Aug. 1. “If I don’t leave here, I’m truly concerned about my long-term health.”

The Sarasota Police Department has received a handful of complaints since the $10.9 million project began in April, but hasn’t written any citations for trucks driving for the Key’s contractor. In fact, when traffic officer responded to complaints last month, they only wrote tickets for passenger vehicles, said SPD spokeswoman Genevieve Judge.

As for the noise, the city of Sarasota only regulates its noise ordinance between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., Judge said.

“In 30 days, I’ll be lucky if I don’t lose my hearing or my mind,” Gerber said.

If the noise and sight of the truck haul project has annoyed customers at Cha Cha Coconuts, which sits at the apex of the caravan’s path through the Circle, it hasn’t rankled them to the point of not coming back.

“Our sales are up, so it really hasn’t affected our business,” said General Manager Emily Shock. “It's loud, but it’s something that need to be done.”

Gault said the truck haul situation is indicative of the long-term problem of finding suitable sand for the shorelines.

“I would be willing as a taxpayer to pay a premium to do more dredging on a maintenance basis,” Gault said.”And cut out this ridiculous hauling situation.” 

The town was prepared to spend up to $18,000 to get dolled up for local TV cameras. But Town Manager Dave Bullock says there’s more to the town’s public relations contract than preparing for the spotlight.

Getting ready for the spotlight

In March, the town hired Heidi Smith Communications Inc. to oversee communications for the $10.9 million mid-Key truck haul, which required the closing of beaches, hundreds of trucks rumbling onto the Key and large Caterpillar machines traversing the beach for more than 10 hours a day.

Town staff knew that with such a disruptive project, the public would want to know when and where the contractor Earth Tech Enterprises Inc. was working.

“For me, one of the most important things we can do is let our residents know what we’re doing,” said Bullock about the PR contract. “Because after all, they’re the ones paying for it.”

In April, Heidi Smith, owner of the public relations firm, organized a media day as the truck haul began, during which at least four news outlets attended. Bullock stood on the groin in front of the Islander Club and chatted with reporters for at least an hour.

“(Smith) makes me wear a Longboat Key hat every time,” Bullock said with a laugh.

The communications firm also helped create a detailed map of the project, coordinate videos of the work and edit weekly updates provided by Projects Manager James Linkogle and consultant Al Browder, senior engineer with Olsen Associates Inc.

“Our first updates took a lot of editing because we spoke in project terms,” Bullock said.

The latest updates have required less editing than they did at first, highlighting Bullock’s main reason for hiring the firm: to learn.

“What I really wanted to do was for us to gain that knowledge in-house, and apply that to the next project and the next project,” Bullock said. 

Over the next several years, the town will undertake more than $50 million in underground utilities projects, which will require substantial public outreach. 

The work on the Bayfront Park redevelopment will also require neighborhood communications, and Bullock said his team will use lessons from Heidi Smith Communications for the project.

The town has spent $9,155 so far on the contract, and Mayor Jack Duncan, who said he has been pleased with the outreach in the community, said it won’t go any higher than $10,000. The contract calls for an upper limit of $35,000 through Dec. 31.