Sarasota estimates $17 million remains in post-storms damage

Seventeen million dollars down, $17 million to go.

That is the fiscal reality facing the city of Sarasota as it turns its attention from near-term to long-term recovery from the 2024 hurricane season. 

With $34-plus million in damages for a city that entered the current fiscal year with $28.7 million in reserves, the math doesn’t work. Sure there is an anticipated 75%-85% reimbursement from FEMA, but as Director of Finance Kelly Strickland told city commissioners during their April 21 meeting, it’s a matter of when.

The city still has not received all of its anticipated reimbursements for expenses related to hurricanes Ian and Idalia, and it now joins the waiting list for damage wrought by last year’s power couple, Helene and Milton.

Image courtesy of the city of Sarasota

Meanwhile, the bulk of the damage remaining to be addressed lies in city-owned parks and other assets along the shorelines of Sarasota Bay. The city has 62 parks in total, all of them touched by last year’s storms according to John Kretzer, the landscape operations manager for the Sarasota Parks and Recreation Department.

“If you include fallen trees, pretty much every single park had some sort of damage,” Kretzer said. “Our waterfront parks were the ones that were affected the most, but there wasn’t a park that we didn't have to do some sort of storm-related cleanup or repair.”

Although most parks are clear of debris and repairs made, significant damage remains at nine city parks and seven additional assets such as piers, parking lots and streets serving some parks. Those still require time and money — an estimated $17.4 million — according to “Restoring Sarasota,” a status report released by the city.

Of the 16 remaining significant restoration projects, the report highlights a handful of parks and assets with the most damage, including Bayfront Park, Eloise Werlin Park, Bird Key Park, Ken Thompson Park, Whitaker Gateway Park and multiple piers.

In addition to funding, the repairs will require time. The time frame to ensure compliance with FEMA guidelines to ensure reimbursement includes:

• Summer 2025: Bidding process for construction contracts.
• Fall 2025 to early 2026: City commission approval and award contracts.
• Late 2026 to early 2027: Expected completion of repairs.

And that’s all assuming no further setbacks brought by hurricane season 2025.

“I think that's probably the outside edge of that schedule, but we are looking at 2026 or 2027 by the time you procure contractors and get the engineering complete,” Kretzer said. “it very well could take that long.”

Image courtesy of the city of Sarasota

The process begins with damage assessments.

“Take the Whitaker pier, for instance. It’s gone,” Kretzer said.

Once an engineering firm is selected, the city provides photos of what was there to start the new design, one that must meet current FEMA standards to qualify for reimbursement. The design phase follows with a standard process of 30% design, then 60% design, then the final design followed by federal and state permitting. The pier replacement then goes to procurement for contractor bidding, another 30- to 45-day process. 

After another one to two months to reach a City Commission agenda, the approved contract is awarded, followed by another 30 days or so before construction actually begins.

“And we have to go through that process numerous times,” Kretzer said.”We lost three fishing piers at Ken Thompson Park. We lost the fishing pier at Whitaker. We lost a good section of Saprito Pier.”

The city expects FEMA to reimburse more than three-fourths of the $17.4 million cost over two years, but the City Commission and senior management face a budget puzzle this season: how the city will cover the short-term costs with an already-depleted fund balance, while another hurricane season approaches.

That begins with commission budget workshops July 28 and 29.