Siesta runoff fix faces delay

Tropical Storm Debby caused significant flooding on Siesta Key throughout the previous three days and forced the closure of Beach Road Monday and Tuesday of this week. But plans to improve storm water drainage on that road could be further delayed after blueprint changes.

Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson, a Siesta resident representing District 3, in an email exchange with a concerned citizen yesterday said the expected July 7 start date of the $2.8 million Beach Road drainage improvement project will likely be delayed. The location of a proposed retention pond was altered, which required subsequent permit changes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection

The county has appropriated all the funding required for the project, $2.4 million of which is earmarked for construction costs, according to the Sarasota County preliminary budget for the 2013 fiscal year. Public works is expected to spend $18,000 in 2014 and 2015 to monitor water quality of affected areas and $3,200 the following two years on general operations.

The design and planning portion of the project began in 2007. “The (stormwater runoff) situation has existed for years,” Patterson said in the email exchange, “although this is the worst I have seen.”