Town, WCIND draft interlocal agreement for $760,235 project

The town’s estimated cost for an upcoming West Coast Inlet Navigation District (WCIND) dredging project that will place sand on the severely eroded north end this summer is approximately $300,000.

Town Manager Dave Bullock made the announcement at the end of the Longboat Key Town Commission’s April 21 regular workshop.

Bullock told the commission that WCIND accepted a $760,235 bid — by Cavache for a project that would trap 88,000 cubic yards from northwest of Jewfish Key. WCIND had agreed to contribute $500,000 toward the project, with the town making up the remaining cost.

WCIND’s attorney will begin to draft an interlocal agreement between the agency and the town, which Bullock expects will be completed in early May.

Earlier in the workshop, town staff gave a presentation updating the commission about the project, in which WCIND will dredge the channel northwest of Jewfish Key to prepare 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.

“Unless the commission directs me otherwise, I’m telling (WCIND) to move full-speed ahead,” Bullock said before receiving consensus from the commission to proceed with the project.

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 Condominium.

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.

Longbeach Condominium president Bob Appel expressed support for the effort in an April 18 email to Bullock.

“The sand that the State is willing to put in front of our property, will be very helpful in our survival over the next couple of years,” he wrote.

Appel also wrote that the condominium is in the process of obtaining a permit to build a seawall, which could offer protection during storms.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].