Q+A with Carl Shoffstall

Although beach renourishment has been the major headline-generator on Lido Key over the past year, life on the island is more than just worrying about the well-being of the shoreline. We sat down with Lido Key Residents AssociationPresident Carl Shoffstall to discuss the biggest issues impacting the area — including the short-term and long-term plans to protect its beaches.

Q: With one beach project ongoing and another one in the works, what’s the mindset of Lido Key residents about the state of the shoreline right now?
A: The renourishment needs to get done. This (ongoing renourishment project) is an interim project — for lack of a better term, I call it a Band-Aid project, but it needed to get done. We’re working now to get the big project in the works. The big thing is that the federal government, with the Army Corps, is going to maintain that over 50 years. Just the financial feasibility of something like that is going to be huge for the city and the county, with what they’d have to put up over 50 years.

Q: How optimistic are you that the Army Corps project will eventually be completed?
A: I’m a lot more optimistic than I was two years ago. We’ve still got a long way to go yet, but hopefully in 2016, 2017, it’ll get done.

Q: You’ve been an advocate for improvements to the Lido Pool and Pavilion. Where do things stand with that?
A: For three years we’ve been working as an ad-hoc pool committee to come up with some kind of an idea of what the residents would like to see out here. In three years of work, we gave three presentations to the city of what we would like to see. In August, an Invitation to Negotiate was written by the city (to find groups interested in making the improvements). It went out, and in the middle of November we got a couple of groups interested in doing it. As of right now, it’s in a review process; I’m the public person for Lido during the review process. I would think it’s going to be the better part of this year before any decision gets made.

Q: People might look at the pool and say, “The beach is right there; what’s the big deal?” How important do you think the pool is for Lido Key?
A: It’s dated, there’s no doubt about it. We’re looking to put a playground out here; a lot of residents want their families and grandchildren to come down, have a playground to use. We want to improve the entire facility, bringing it up to what other counties have on their beach properties. We want a splash pad out here for the kids. Put a tiki bar out here and stuff like that.

This is one of the best assets for the city of Sarasota that they have. I’m a little bit biased about that, but the beach experience is what people come to Sarasota for. It needs to be updated, and it has to be one of the jewels of the city.

Q: You’ve been talking with Commissioner Eileen Normile about traffic issues. How is congestion affecting life on Lido?
A: It’s tough to get off the island between 2 and 6. Again, it’s season, so we have to expect to put up with some traffic. It does need to be addressed, because it is getting more and more busy. The city is aware of it — at the (January residents association) meeting, a lot of the questions were directed to what are we going to do about the traffic situation. You’ve basically got one road off and one road onto the island.

Q: In general, how do you feel about the city’s responsiveness when you bring issues to its attention?
A: Very good. We have about 800 members. We’re very organized. We do go to the city with issues, and our district commissioner, Eileen Normile, she’s very receptive to us. If we have anything, we can call her and talk to her. All of the commissioners now, they listen to us.

Q: There’s an election this March. What are some of the qualities you’d like to see in your elected representative?
A: Listening to us and hearing what our needs and wants are — with balance, with everyone else in the city. The biggest issue, though, is, citywide, we believe the commissioners need to work together for the good of the city.

— David Conway