Two beach projects permits down, one to go

Permits pave the way for New Pass and mid-Key beach projects in 2016. The town is still waiting on one last permit for a Longboat Pass project.

By Kurt Schultheis
| 6:00 a.m. January 13, 2016

Town Manager Dave Bullock inspects two groins Dec. 17 that were installed last year to hold sand at the north end of the Island.

Longboat Key
News

After months of waiting, the town received an intent to issue permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a $3 million New Pass dredging project that will place 250,000 cubic yards of sand on the eroded south end.

The Dec. 23 notice means two of three projects have received approval from state and federal agencies and will begin this year.

Sand Source Problem

Luckily for the town, there’s enough sand in the two passes sitting on both sides of it to restore eroded portions of the town’s shoreline for the next six to eight years.

But the town can only obtain permits for sand dredging in both Longboat Pass and New Pass when state and federal agencies agree that sand has built up in the passes and needs to be taken out for safe boat passage.

And in New Pass, when sand is dredged out of the pass every six to eight years, the town and the city of Sarasota have an agreement to take turns removing the sand.

So what’s the town going to do the next time it needs more sand?

Town Manager Dave Bullock says it’s imperative to find a sand source in deep waters to the north of Longboat Key and obtain a permit to lay claim to the sand.

The fiscal 2016 budget includes $300,000 to search for the same quality of sand north of Anna Maria Island that can be earmarked for the town’s use.

“We’re hopeful a sand search for a new source in the next year will produce some results and options for sand,” Bullock said.

The town wrote to the Corps of Engineers Jan. 6, stating it has no objections to the permit. Because the town and the city of Sarasota take turns getting sand from the pass every six to eight years, the city will also sign off on a permit for the project.

Town Manager Dave Bullock credited Key resident and U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, for his assistance in expediting the permit.

The town still has to put the project out for bid and wait for a start date, which will most likely be in the summer.

The New Pass approval follows a permit the town received in July for a $10,983,192 mid-Key sand restoration project that will begin in April. Bids for that project are due Jan. 20.

The mid-Key project will bring approximately 250,000 cubic yards of sand from a source in the middle of the state. Sand will be placed mid-Key to as far south as Beachplace.

The town is waiting until after season to begin the mid-Key project because it involves transporting sand via dump trucks that will drive Gulf of Mexico Drive and enter the beach through an access point at the shuttered Colony Beach & Tennis Resort site.

The third and final project that’s still awaiting a final federal permit is a $3.5 million Longboat Pass dredging project that will bring 200,000 cubic yards of sand from Gulfside Road north to the North Shore Road beach access.

“I’m really confident that two of the three projects are starting this year,” Bullock said. “And I’m hopeful, since conditions for the New Pass project have been approved that are very similar to the Longboat Pass project, that a permit for that project is coming soon.”

If it can overcome federal bureaucracy hurdles, the town could be working on $17 million worth of three beach projects at once to restore sand Key-wide this year, and they might even overlap at some point, according to Bullock.