ENGLEWOOD – With easements in hand, Sarasota County will now save almost $1 million on its portion of the ongoing beach renourishment project on Manasota Key.
In an e-mail to the county commissioners on Thursday, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis wrote that he had signed a change order allowing the contractor, Great Lakes Dock and Dredge Company, to work above the mean high water line at a cost of $245,000, saving the county $900,000.
That savings came about after 23 property owners in the middle portion of the project, the so-called gap area, signed easements allowing Great Lakes to place pipes on the dry sand portion of their beach property.
The gap area came about after these property owners in the middle of the project area refused to sign paperwork required by the state to establish an erosion control line. That forced the county to divide the project into north and south areas.
With these easements, Great Lakes will be able to transfer sand from a borrow area near the Charlotte County line to the north project area at Blind Pass Beach Park. That work is expected to begin early next week, weather permitting, according to Rachel Herman, a manager of the county’s Environmental Protection Division.
“Wonderful, positive news that ends a pretty rough, dry spell,” Commissioner Alan Maio wrote in an e-mail response to Lewis.
Sarasota County and Charlotte County are engaged in a joint project to renourish the beach area on Manasota Key which has been ravaged by storms over recent years, leading beach-front property owners to implore commissioners from their respective counties to do something.
Sarasota County’s portion of the project will cost $7.7 million.
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