County moves forward with Longboat Pass plan

The Manatee Board of County Commissioners voted 6-1 Tuesday, March 27 to proceed with the design and permitting of the Longboat Pass Inlet Management Plan as recommended by Coastal Planning & Engineering Inc. The plan recommends a single terminal groin on Beer Can Island and two permeable adjustable groins, along with extending an Anna Maria Island groin and dredging a cut of the pass, as the solution to stopping the southward movement of Longboat Pass and controlling erosion.

The Longboat Key Town Commission heard the results of the study in a November workshop and directed town staff to proceed with the permitting process for the structures, which takes at least a year, but didn’t commit to building the structures. In February, town commissioners met with county commissioners for a joint work session during which the County Commission heard the findings of the study for the first time. As the result of the requests of some commissioners at that meeting, a CP&E representative presented four alternative models at Tuesday’s meeting, three of which showed scenarios in which no structures were placed on Longboat Key, resulting in the depletion of fill sand within four to six years.

Town Manager David Bullock spoke to the County Commission and said that sand placement alone wasn’t fiscally sound and asked for the county’s help in moving forward.

County commissioners worried about potential liabilities to the county if someone should get injured on the structures. Commissioner Carol Whitmore made a motion to move forward with the plan but added a condition that warning signage be added to reduce the county’s liability in case someone injured himself on the proposed structures.

Commissioner Joe McClash, who voted against moving forward with the plan, worried that the county hadn’t gotten enough input from people who use the beach and would be impacted by moving forward with the plan.

“Government seems to be doing things to people rather than for people,” he said.

Manatee County National Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker told the commission that it would likely be slightly more than a year before work could begin on the Key’s groins and 24 to 36 months before work can begin on the Anna Maria Island groin. The town has begun the Joint Coastal Permitting process (JCP) needed to move forward with the groins, although the commission hasn’t voted on whether they will proceed with the structures. The town is seeking flexibility in its permitting that would allow for the construction of the proposed structures at the same time or separately.