Runoff project needs extension

With Sarasota County on track to lose a nearly $1 million construction grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), it could be time for desperate measures to get the stormwater runoff improvements to Siesta Key in motion.

With two permits stuck in approval purgatory with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, time is running out to break ground on the Beach Road drainage improvement project.

The recession bruised revenues of governing bodies, forcing them to put more scrutiny on how grants are used and timeliness of their objectives, explained Sarasota County Public Works Project Manager Curtis Smith. “And (SWFWMD) indicated in the past that they’re reluctant to extend the timeline,” he said.

There is a $975,000 grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District that is set to expire. In the original contract it said that the project should have started April 30, 2010, and finish exactly one year later, however, an extension was granted pushing the threshold ahead.

The original grant contract, which drew funds from the Water Management Lands Trust Fund, was set to expire March 31, 2012.

The county now has until Dec. 31, 2012, to complete construction of the project and until March 31 nest year to submit a final report, according to Southwest Florida Water Management District documents obtained by the Pelican Press.

However, in the Sarasota County preliminary budget for the 2013 fiscal year the construction commencement isn’t scheduled until October this year with a completion date of September 2013, nine months after the contract requires for building time and six months after the county is required to submit a final report.

“I’m very concerned about the grant,” said Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson, who represents constituents — and is also a resident — of Siesta.

When time was running out for a grant to add sand to Turtle Beach three years ago, Patterson and then Sarasota County Administrator Jim Ley went to Washington, D.C., to ask for an expedited permitting process from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She hasn’t received any updates from County Administrator Randall Reid about the status of the permits.

The funds have already been disbursed to the county, so if the time frames are not met, the county has to reimburse the $975,000 to the Water Management District. “The time frame is taking a lot longer than we would have hoped it would,” Smith said. “We’re still responding to comments from the Water Management District. We just have to allow for uncertainty in the permitting process.”

With public funding through grants becoming more difficult to seek and secure — and use on time — alternative funding through borrowing has been considered by the Sarasota County Commission.
Commissioner Joe Barbetta said in a June interview with the Pelican Press he wanted to look at bonding out projects’ costs and starting them sooner, rather than relying on cash on hand or forecasted tax collections. In particular, Barbetta highlighted the beach improvement project, another construction initiative on Siesta Key that is expected to cost more than $20 million.

“The rates are low,” he said. The dip in demand for construction services following the housing market crash brought down building costs, and with the Federal Reserve expected to constrict long-term interest rates, borrowing to build is currently cheap. “I guarantee they’re going to be higher then if we borrow today,” he said.

The Siesta Key Crystal Classic master sand-sculpting competition in November will catch collateral effects from the delay. Organizers of the event usually use the area near the beach for additional parking spaces but are expected to lose that privilege because the drainage improvements would demolish the space.

“It’s not that there’s any issues (in the new blueprints) folks are disagreeing on — it’s the time frame,” Smith said. “When it comes to permitting, we can’t make a schedule for individuals in other organizations.”