Sand arriving next month

Town Manager Dave Bullock announced that sand is coming to the severely eroded north end of the Key next month.

In an email to the Longboat Key Town Commission Thursday, Bullock explained he met with West Coast Inland Navigation District officials Wednesday and was informed the project will start soon.

Manatee County Commissioner John Chappie of Manatee County made a motion at Wednesday’s WCIND board meeting to expedite the project at the WCIND Board meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

“The project is moving along quickly with the contractor ready to begin mobilization in the coming weeks once final notice to proceed is issued,” Bullock wrote. “Based on the schedule discussed, I expect equipment placement to begin within two weeks, followed quickly by dredging and sand placement.”
The project is expected to take about two months, depending on the weather.

WCIND is dredging an area of the boat channel, trapping 88,000 cubic yards of sand from northwest of Jewfish Key. WCIND had agreed to contribute $500,000 toward the project, with the town making up the remaining cost.

WCIND will dredge the area to install flood shoal sand traps in that area. The traps, once installed, will trap sand that is swept off the north end of the Key and deposited in a large sandbar near Jewfish Key.

The town will get 100% of the sand dredged for its shores, with Manatee County receiving 100% of the sand the next time the site is dredged. Future projects will receive a 50/50 split between the county and the town.

Sand will be placed just north and south of the severely eroded beach near the Longbeach condominiums.

Bullock told the commission he is optimistic that some sand will still be in place in 2015, when construction of two groins will begin, barring major storms this summer.

“As you know the beach has eroded dangerously close to buildings in the area of north Longboat Key,” Bullock wrote. “Expediting this project is of high importance as we enter storm season and the schedule will allow placement of sand in these areas before late summer, which is the most active storm time for us.”

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].