Sarasota faces months of debris collection

In the days following the body blows delivered by hurricanes Helene and Milton, Sarasota Deputy City Manager Patrick Robinson said the city faces months of storm debris collection.

That statement was based on city staff estimates of 95,000 total cubic yards of vegetative, construction and demolition, and household goods and appliances debris left curbside. At a capacity of 21 cubic yards per truck, that resulted in a rough estimate, at that time, of 4,000 trips to pick up and deliver to the Sarasota County landfill.

That was before the city’s three contracted storm debris haulers got involved. 

During last Friday’s City Commission meeting, rescheduled from Oct. 7, Robinson told commissioners that Public Works Director Doug Jeffcoat and Public Works General Manager Todd Kucharski activated the debris haulers in advance of Hurricane Milton, and once they could access the streets that volume estimate grew exponentially when collection and hauling operations began on Oct. 16.

“They're estimating, now that our contractors are operational on the ground, 250,000 to 400,000 cubic yards of debris, which roughly equates to, on the conservative side, 12,000 truckloads to be removed from the streets,” Robinson said.

That stands in sharp contrast to the 91,000 cubic yards and 3,200 loads left behind by Hurricane Ian in 2022, which took some six weeks to collect. 

The commencement of full-scale debris collection, though, comes as welcomed news to residents and city commissioners alike.

“I know all of you are getting requests for individual street removal. I can tell you that Mr. Jeffcoat’s team and the contractors have worked out a plan,” Robinson told commissioners.

That plan prioritizes the barrier islands, which took the brunt of the back-to-back hurricanes and the resulting debris, and around schools where students walk to and from home, then expanding outward along main roads and intersections before working their way into residential neighborhoods.

“We know that everybody wants it done,” Robinson said. “I read in one of the emails that our roads are like tunnels, and they absolutely are. We’re very cognizant of that, and staff is going to be working diligently to get that removed.”

Included in Robinson’s storm recovery-related comments was an update on how city staff responded in the aftermath of Milton.

“We had well over 200 staff members — including law enforcement, public works, public utilities, parks and rec — in the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) during (Milton) and responded immediately after that storm, at about 3 in the morning, to start stopping the water line breaks from all the trees that went down,” he said. “We are still working on getting all of the line breaks done because of so much tree uprooting that shifted the ground and damaged some of our infrastructure.”

Several parks remain closed

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department continues assessing and remediating significant damage caused by Hurricane Milton while its Landscape Division clears debris from streets and medians to ensure safety and accessibility.

Remaining closed are Bayfront Park, Bird Key Park, Eloise Werlin Park/Tony Saprito Pier, Gillespie Park, Indian Beach Park, Ken Thompson Park, North Water Tower Park and the School Avenue MURT. Other parks may be closed or have areas that are inaccessible. 

Photo by Max Osiris

Payne Park and the Circus Playground have reopened with ongoing debris removal and tree maintenance underway.

Pioneer Park's north section, including the basketball court and playground, is cleared and open while the southern section is being cleared of large trees. Mary Dean Park has also reopened.