Two Long Periods of Neglect in Sarasota County

 1. Sarasota Wastewater Wake-Up Call


During the severe 2018-2019 red tide bloom that plagued Southwest Florida, it was revealed that Sarasota County Utilities periodically had been releasing millions of gallons of reclaimed wastewater daily for several weeks and months at a time from their Bee Ridge Wastewater Reclamation Facility to Phillippi Creek. This neglect had gone on for years.

While the wastewater was treated to remove pathogens, break down organic matter, and reduce nutrients, the concentration of nitrogen that helps fuel red tide was elevated well above that for direct discharge to surface waters such as Phillippi Creek and the bay.

As residents and businesses suffered from the severe and prolonged red tide bloom, this revelation made Sarasota County Government seem tone deaf to the public it served. And stunningly, the County Commission at the time were surprised to learn that these reclaimed wastewater discharges had been occurring.

To say the least, the longstanding neglect was a wake-up call. Confronted by a major lawsuit the County Commission moved immediately and definitively to direct the County Administrator to take actions that would both correct the situation and restore public trust. In addition to moving to restructure the leadership, organization, and staff competence of the Wastewater Utility, the County Commission made the bold policy decision to upgrade the Bee Ridge plant and all three wastewater treatment plants to Advanced Wastewater Treatment standards, reducing excess nitrogen at an estimated public investment of $510,000,000. 

=====


2. Sarasota Stormwater Wake-Up Call

A map of a county AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Five Watersheds: Sarasota Bay, Little Sarasota Bay, Dona/Roberts Bay, Lemon Bay, and Myakka River 


Fast forward to early August 2024: the rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Debby in northwest Sarasota County -- and particularly in the Phillippi Creek watershed -- resulted in severe flooding exacerbated by numerous deficiencies in Sarasota County Stormwater Utilities’ management, maintenance, and operations. Specifically, 

  • a breach in an overgrown dike that had apparently been existence since 2019  allowed excessive floodwater from the adjacent Cow Pen Slough watershed to enter the Phillippi Creek watershed where it flooded homes in the Laurel Meadows subdivision; 
  • misoperation of a water control structure in direct violation of written protocols  increased flooding of private businesses around the Celery Fields area; 
  • decades of unattended sediment build-up between US 41 and Beneva Road increased flood elevations in adjacent homes. 

A dramatic increase in the Countywide annual stormwater assessments in 2022 was accompanied by a decrease in Countywide stormwater maintenance. Charging more for less in the wake of Tropical Storm Debby again made Sarasota County Government seem tone deaf to the public it served. The Board of County Commissioners has begun to take necessary corrective action much to the initial resistance of County Administrator, Jonathan Lewis and County Public Works Director, Spencer Anderson.


  • First and foremost, for transparency and accountability, the BCC directed the County Administrator to untangle the Stormwater Utility from Public Works and consolidate this enterprise fund as an independent business center similar to its other enterprise fund, the Sarasota County Water and Sewer Utilities. 

  • Next, Ben Quartermaine was hired as Stormwater Director to rebuild  the internal core expertise and capacity of the Stormwater staff and to proactively manage the technical, operational, and customer service aspects of the stormwater program using cost-effective and state-of-the-art technologies. The creation of a culture of multidisciplinary collaboration and a proactive sense of purpose must be a priority of leadership.

  • Finally, to address customer dissatisfaction with neglect and to meet public expectations, Stormwater should conduct regular open houses to engage with community representatives within each of the five primary watersheds: Sarasota Bay, Little Sarasota Bay, Dona/Roberts Bay, Lemon Bay, and Myakka River (map below). These open houses should be used to review maintenance schedules with existing and new residents and to solicit input on other maintenance needs from customers. 

Putting these recommendations into action will provide Sarasota's residents with peace of mind knowing we have in place a well- maintained system to handle extreme summer storms and hurricanes.


IN LIGHT OF THESE RECENT WAKE UP CALLS, IT'S FAIR TO ASK: BEYOND OUR WASTEWATER AND STORMWATER UTILITIES, WHAT OTHER COUNTY LAND MINES IS THE PUBLIC LIKELY TO WAKE UP TO? WHAT OTHER SHOES WILL DROP, MAYBE IN OUR WOEFULLY INEPT PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS? 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DR HORTON at the PLANNING COMMISSION Nov. 21

Image
If you care about the Celery Fields as a healthy public amenity for humans and wildlife, tell the Sarasota County Planning Commission that you oppose Rezone Petition RZ 23-30 . The Petition would give DR Horton the opportunity to build 170 homes on the Smith Farm property, yards away from the Raymond Road Boardwalk and a critical nesting area: Smith Farm is the light green - steps away from the Raymond Rd. Bird Walk and Nesting Area. Virtually the entire Farm property is a floodplain. Below, the FEMA map indicates that a very large portion of the Farm, showing in blue, is AE - which means it's in the 100-year floodplain. The grey area is in the 500-year floodplain: Smith Property: FEMA Flood Map  According to the Comprehensive Plan, the county is not supposed to approve dense housing in a floodplain. The reasons might be obvious after this hurricane season: Smith Farm under feet of water the day after Debby THREE THINGS TO DO: 1. WRITE to the Planning Commission ( planner@scg...
Read more

Protect the Celery Fields: Write to the Sarasota County Commission

Image
Horton proposes 126 homes on The Smith Farm Dear Friend of the Celery Fields,   Your letters and emails to the Planning Commission made all the difference.  We won that hurdle in protecting the Celery Fields from the Smith Farm development.   Now we must repeat our efforts and send statements to the County Commissioners right away so the new letters and emails will go the the Commissioners as early as possible.  Please don't delay because we only have days to make sure our letters are included in the board packet.   Below is some text you can copy, add to, or  write your own comments, then sign it. Be sure to put  Deny  RZ 23-30  in the email subject line.  More here  and here.   Commissioner emails:   commissioners@scgov. net   with  copy to  planner@scgov.net   We at Sarasota Audubon thank you for your efforts and hope to see you at the public hearing on Feb. 12th!  Here is a basic brief opt...
Read more

Commissioner Knight seeks to address the larger issues of Growth in Sarasota County

Image
 A MEMO from Commissioner Tom Knight that will be on Tuesday's  Agenda under Item 29:  County Commissioner Tom Knight MEMO To: Commissioner Ron Cutsinger Commissioner Teresa Mast Commissioner Joe Neunder Commissioner Mark Smith  Cc:  County Administrator Jonathan Lewis County Attorney Joshua Moye  From: Commissioner Tom Knight  Date: March 3, 2025  Subject: Outside evaluation of Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan and Sarasota 2050     As you may remember, at our December 13 strategic planning retreat I requested a review of our comprehensive plan and Sarasota 2050. I was told at the time that it was not something typically included in an annual strategic plan and instead could be a simple staff assignment.   At our next regularly scheduled commission meeting, I plan to raise this topic again but will request that instead of it being a staff project we invest in a qualified and unbiased outside consultant (possibly with he...
Read more