- April 18, 2024
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If Sarasota County mainland residents see an uptick in dump trucks heading toward Longboat Key beaches in April, it’s because the town is keeping its shoreline pristine for residents and visitors.
That’s the message Longboat Key Town Manager Dave Bullock had for the Sarasota County Commission during a joint special meeting with the Longboat Key Town Commission Monday, in Sarasota.
“It’s a really busy year for us,” Bullock said. “The beach is our most important asset, and it’s what keeps our property values high.”
The increased activity for the April project, scheduled so it would begin after seasonal residents leave, is for a mid-Key project.
“You will see the trucks, but I don’t think they will impact you,” Bullock said.
Bullock explained that three beach projects will bring approximately 600,000 cubic yards of sand to the island over the next year at a cost of approximately $23 million to town taxpayers.
Upcoming Longboat Pass and New Pass dredging projects won’t secure enough sand to fill in eroded areas of the shoreline in the center of the Key, necessitating the dump truck sand haul project that will cost $10,983,192.
Also at the meeting, Bullock and Assistant Town Manager Anne Ross updated the Sarasota County Commission on a $3.11 million Bayfront Park renovation project because the county is a construction partner and owner of part of the park.
Bids for a construction manager for the park project are due this week, and the town hopes to start work at the end of the year or early next year.
Town staff also had the following updates for the Sarasota County Commission Monday:
• Record-breaking construction: Longboat Key Planning, Zoning and Building Director Alaina Ray called the current building permit boom the town is experiencing “a record-breaking construction year.”
Ray also said she expects Ocean Properties Ltd. will submit a site plan application for a new 300-room hotel at Longboat Key Club’s Islandside property near the site of the Chart House in a few months.
• Town center: Bullock informed everyone he’s working closely with Ringling College to attract a cultural center to the site of a future town center in the vicinity of the Longboat Key Publix.
“There’s a public-private partnership in our future around this future town center,” Bullock said. “There’s also potential for a new library, a possible medical center and some retail to support the town center.”
Bullock said he was once told projects of this size have three phases: gaseous, liquid and solid.
“I’m trying to move it from gaseous to liquid,” Bullock said. “By this time next year, we hope to be at least Jell-O.”
• 911 dispatch conversion: Bullock explained that the town and Sarasota and Manatee counties have been working for the last six months to transition the town’s 911 dispatch services seamlessly to Sarasota County. The conversion could be complete by the end of the year.
Both commissions approved an interlocal agreement for the 911 dispatch conversion at Monday’s meeting.
Bullock called the conversion plan “well-conceived and well-executed,” noting the island is split between the two counties, and the conversion will reduce transfer calls and 911 call wait times.
“This will probably help us more than anyone else in the two-county area,” Bullock said.
