Lido residents hold off on campaigning for renourishment

The Lido Key Residents Association responded to opposition to a proposed Lido Beach renourishment project by focusing on the long view during its meeting Saturday.

Several Siesta Key organizations and residents have declared their opposition to a proposed project that would renourish Lido Beach with sand from Big Pass, citing concerns about negative impacts on Siesta Beach. The plan, proposed by the city and spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has not yet been submitted for state approval and is years away from potentially beginning, but groups have already begun to stake out their positions on the topic.

Lido residents were looking for a way to combat opposition and publicize facts that support the renourishment last month, but Assistant City Manager Marlon Brown told board member John Kirker to wait for the Army Corps to finish a report on the projected impact of the plan, currently expected by the end of May.

At that point, Kirker said, the city will begin to advocate more strongly for the project. He said it would be difficult for the residents to bite their tongues, but that it made sense to follow the city’s lead.

“This is a city project,” Kirker said. “This is not the Lido Residents Association’s project. We’re going to benefit from working with the city.”

Some Lido residents expressed fear that they were falling behind in the realm of public opinion. Mollie Thibodeau pointed to a front-page story in the Sarasota Observer about Siesta Key residents bringing an organ out to Big Pass, playing “Let it Be” to discourage sand dredging. If people on Lido aren’t more proactive, she said, the effects could be devastating.

“We have another song that we might need to sing: ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee,’” Thibodeau said. “I believe we’re in a Titanic situation here — we are sinking.”

Association Secretary Mary Moss said members of the group are diligently working behind the scenes to communicate with commissioners and other parties.

“Some of it you don’t know about because we’re not out there tooting our horns,” Moss said.

In the meantime, residents association Vice President Debbie Comer encouraged Lido residents to try to put Siesta stakeholders at ease regarding the project. She said that many people have a strong negative reaction to hearing the word “dredge,” and are unaware of facts surrounding the proposed project, including that it would use about 3% of the sand in Big Pass.

“We just want a tiny bit of our sand returned,” Comer said. “Let’s make it a friendly discussion so that everybody wins.”

Contact David Conway at [email protected]