Newsletter 73

News From The Suncoast

..AND MORE PILES TO GO

Local governments across Sarasota and Manatee Counties are ramping up efforts to pick up storm debris still piled up in many areas a month after Hurricane Irma ripped through Florida. But most jurisdictions are still only a fraction of the way through the cleanup effort, while residents’ tempers are flaring over the delays. For now, local emergency management officials simply say they are doing their best, Some blame delays on how contractors hired to deal with the aftermath have been taxed because of the historic storm’s wide path across the state and its timing just after Hurricane Harvey. Still, collection across the area likely will stretch though November, officials cautioned. To read more on this story, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please click here: Storm Debris

IRMA CLAIMS TOP $4.5 BILLION

More than 21,000 Southwest Florida property owners have filed insurance claims for damages from Hurricane Irma. Home and business owners statewide have claimed $4.57 billion in insured losses so far from Irma. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said 703,671 holders of residential and commercial properties have submitted claims to insurers as of the end of last week. But insurers have already turned down 69,432 claims, or about 10% of the total filed. They have paid nearly 104,000. The number of claims and dollar value of losses will continue to rise as more property owners assess the damages from Irma. Please click here for more: Irma Insurance Claims

SPOTLIGHT ON IRMA RESPONSE

Sarasota County, the school district and two area foundations plan to review and analyze the steps local officials took before, during and after Hurricane Irma ripped through Florida last month. The “After Action Report” is expected to be completed within about 90 days and will include a detailed critique of the emergency response, shelter system and an outside peer review to identify lessons from the entire process, outgoing County Administrator Tom Harmer said last week. The final report will address the overall response, from start to finish. But it also will investigate the questions raised by the storm about protecting the electric grid, shelter coordination, storm debris cleanup, and the $130,000 the county spent on Mattison’s catering to feed hundreds of employees – at $26 per meal – who worked during the storm. There’s more on this story here: Irma Analysis

WHAT’S NEXT FOR NATHAN BENDERSON PARK?

U.S. and international sports officials are praising the 2017 World Rowing Championships at Nathan Benderson Park as one of the best World Rowing regattas ever. Now what? International and U.S. officials have long-term plans for the park. In his speech to close the world championships, Jean-Christophe Rolland, the president of the World Rowing sports federation, said, “It’s been a fantastic week, an amazing week,” and that “I can tell you that we will be back very soon.” The World Rowing Masters Championships, for rowers 27 years old and older, have already been scheduled for September 2018 at Nathan Benderson Park. That annual event draws many more people than the World Rowing Championships for elite rowers. The masters event held this year in the city of Bled, Slovenia, attracted more than 4,700 competitors. Please follow the jump for more on this story: What’s next for NBP?

FIRM PICKED FOR “THE BAY” PLAN

Boston-area planning firm Sasaki has been selected to lead redevelopment of city-owned land on the Sarasota bayfront into an arts and cultural district to become “The Bay”. Sasaki was selected from four finalists after interviews with the Sarasota Bayfront Planning Organization, the nonprofit board of local business leaders spearheading the project alongside the city. Sasaki has worked on public projects from the Chicago Riverwalk to the Cincinnati John G. & Phyliss W. Smale Riverfront Park, both of which the group highlighted during its three-hour presentation. There’s more on this story here: The Bay Plan Moves Forward

ROUNDABOUT CITY

Plans to build three new roundabouts on U.S. 41 will disrupt a critical section of one of the city’s main arteries for the next 2.5 years. Construction is expected to begin on the roundabouts at 10th and 14th streets in mid-November and will involve several phases that will shift traffic back and forth while crews work through the summer of 2020, according to the Florida Department of Transportation plans. “When people ask why we’re working during tourist season, there’s no way around it,” FDOT spokesman Robin Stublen said. Please click here for more: Traffic Nightmares

RISING SEAS: SARASOTA ISN’T WAITING

A look at the city of Sarasota’s assets most at risk from potential sea level rise reads in part like a list of some of its more scenic locations. That’s no coincidence. Most are on or near the waterfront. St. Armands Circle, Lido Key, the Ringling Causeway, Ted Sperling Park and other locales emerged as priorities after a review of nearly 220 assets within the city limits by Steve Freeman-Montes, the city’s sustainability manager, and the staff of every city department that maintains infrastructure. The city is undertaking “a slow, pragmatic, science-based, strategic approach” to planning for sea level rise predictions, said city spokeswoman Jan Thornburg. In doing so, the gulf-front and bayfront municipality is following the advice of other Florida communities that have taken a leadership role in setting the standard for preparing for potential changes to their coasts. If you’d like to read more, click here: Preparing For Rising Seas