Observer Updates

+ Florensa reports groin project is ‘mostly finished’
The $1 million Islander groin project is “mostly complete,” according to Public Works Director Juan Florensa.

Two permeable, adjustable-type groins being built behind The Islander Club to hold sand in the area had to be complete before sea-turtle nesting season begins May 1.

Florensa says the project is 99% complete.

The decks, which will eventually allow people to walk on the structures, have been completed and only minor modifications to the structures are being performed.

All of the equipment, including a crane used to build the groins, has been removed from the beach.

“We don’t want the public on the groins yet because the contractor still owns them until the structures are turned over to the town,” Florensa said.

But the town can’t stop some island residents from using the structures.

Commissioner and Islander Club resident David Brenner said pelicans have taken a liking to the groins and can be found congregating on them.

+ Broadway beach project receives 400 yards of sand
More than 25 dump trucks, with 400 cubic yards of sand each, made their way to the Broadway beach access Monday and Tuesday from Schroeder-Manatee Ranch as part of a sand emergency project.

The Longboat Key Town Commission approved a $225,000 project to bring 7,500 cubic yards of sand to the severely eroded beach on the north end.

The project, however, must be complete by May 1 before sea -turtle nesting season begins.

“We are fighting time,” said Public Works Director Juan Florensa.

The town, Florensa, said, hopes to get as much sand on the dry beach as possible before May 1 and is waiting to hear back from state officials if they can place sand there a few days after May 1.

St. Denis says he will waive the sound-ordinance requirements for the project, allowing the contractor to work from 7 a.m. to sunset to get the project complete.

The dump trucks are using the beach access to back up onto the beach and dump the sand.

The Broadway beach access is still open to the public.

Contact Kurt Schulteis at [email protected].