Town receives south-end permit

The town received its long-awaited U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit Feb. 4 for a $3 million New Pass sand dredging project.

Town Manager Dave Bullock hopes the Longboat Pass dredging permit will follow soon and the town can put both projects out to bid later this month. The town will save approximately $1 million if it can mobilize a single dredge near the Key to obtain sands from both passes in back-to-back projects.

The New Pass dredging project will place 250,000 cubic yards of sand on the south end.

Bullock also hopes to modify a permit that will allow the town to adjust a rock structure and possibly extend the structure along New Pass that holds sand on the south end.

“We’re going to tighten that up at the suggestion of our consultant to try and hold more sand in an extremely erosive area,” Bullock said.

Bullock also plans to use sand from an $11 million mid-Key beach dump truck haul project set to begin in April for the south end behind properties such as L’Ambiance and The Pierre that have major erosion issues and can’t wait for the New Pass sand that’s coming this summer.

“I believe we need to supplement that area with some truck haul sand due to the erosion seen there in the last five months,” Bullock said.

The town has entered into discussions with the Longboat Key Club and the Longboat Club Road Association to allow dump trucks access through their properties to haul approximately 25,000 to 30,000 cubic yards of sand to that area this spring before the New Pass sand arrives later in the year.

The town seeks to start the New Pass project right after the mid-Key sand restoration project that will bring 250,000 cubic yards of sand to the Key via dump trucks starts in April.

A contract for that project was awarded last week. Although the project begins April 4, Bullock said residents can expect to see dump trucks arriving on the Key a few weeks after the start date. The dump trucks will not come to the Key during holiday weekends.

The mid-Key sand project will start at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, with sand being dumped on the beach north of the Aria condominium that’s under construction and transported to needed areas via off-road trucks.

The third project that’s 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.