Newsletter 142

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST …..

EXPERT GIVES ADVICE ON MIDNIGHT PASS

A local estuary expert told Sarasota County commissioners recently that restoring a tidal connection between Little Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico would improve the bay’s water quality. It would, though, likely lead to more red tide in the bay, he added. Dave Tomasko, the executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, spoke to the County Commission as it considers how to create a new connection between the gulf and the bay. A channel called Midnight Pass once separated Siesta Key from Casey Key, but it was closed by homeowners in 1983. A new group called the Midnight Pass Society II is pushing for the pass to be restored, renewing a movement that lasted for decades. In his presentation, Tomasko described the pros and cons of re-creating a tidal connection and described similar projects he has worked on. In 1983, contractors working for two Siesta Key homeowners – famed artist Syd Solomon and his neighbor, Pasco Carter Jr. – filled in the pass because their homes were being threatened by erosion. They tried several times to dredge a new pass, but it filled in each time. Tomasko presented data from a 1992 paper showing that there was much less water circulation in Little Sarasota Bay after Midnight Pass was closed than before. However, the circulation in Roberts Bay improved after the pass closed. Tomasko said Little Sarasota Bay experiences a phenomenon known as salinity stratification. Sometimes when the Sarasota area experiences heavy rain, a layer of freshwater forms on top of the saltwater of the bay. The water on the bottom doesn’t get enough oxygen from the atmosphere – a phenomenon called bottom-water hypoxia, which can kill small creatures, including worms and starfish. He said that this issue can be fixed through a tidal restoration project. He noted, though, that such a project would likely allow more red tide to get into Little Sarasota Bay. For more on this story, courtesy of Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please click here: Midnight Pass Advice

HUGE ATLANTIC SEAWEED BLOOM THREATENS

A raft of brown-colored seaweed in the Atlantic Ocean is so vast it can be seen from space. Spanning roughly 5,000 miles — about twice the width of the United States — the thick blanket of sargassum floats between the Gulf of Mexico and the shores of West Africa. In open water, these giant mats of algae are mostly harmless and even have some benefits, including serving as a habitat for certain fish and crustaceans and absorbing carbon dioxide. But ocean currents are pushing sargassum west, causing hundreds of tons of seaweed to wash up on beaches across the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. There, it can choke corals, wreak havoc on coastal ecosystems and diminish water and air quality as it rots. Scientists say this bloom is one of the largest on record, stoking fears that seaweed invasions of beaches in the coming weeks and months could be particularly severe. “It’s incredible,” said Brian LaPointe, a research professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. “What we’re seeing in the satellite imagery does not bode well for a clean beach year.” Sargassum’s growth varies from season to season. LaPointe, who has studied it for four decades, said huge piles typically come ashore in South Florida in May, but beaches in Key West are already being inundated with algae. Parts of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, including Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, are preparing for up to 3 feet of sargassum buildup in the coming days. Giant mounds of sargassum are more than a nuisance and an eyesore, said Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science. “Even if it’s just out in coastal waters, it can block intake valves for things like power plants or desalination plants, marinas can get completely inundated and boats can’t navigate through,” he said. “It can really threaten critical infrastructure.” To read more on this story, courtesy of NBC News, please click here: Seaweed Mass

DREDGING PLAN FOR INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District is planning to dredge parts of the 160-mile Intracoastal Waterway, including priority areas in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties. Those priorities include from Venice Inlet south to Alligator Creek east of the island of Venice; Anna Maria Island south to the middle of Longboat Key; two sections east of Siesta Key, and off of Don Pedro Island between Stump Pass and Gasparilla Pass in Charlotte County. The federal agency launched a public comment period recently on its planned maintenance dredging, which encompasses the area between the Anclote River near Tarpon Springs and the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers. Except for the Venice Inlet, dredging of the passes that connect the bays to the Gulf of Mexico is not part of the project.

The Army Corps hosted virtual open house sessions recently as a prelude to receiving open comment on the plan, which must ultimately comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. The document is based on a NEPA draft written and released for public comment in 2018 but not finalized because of funding cuts.

The channel is 100 feet wide and designed to be 9 feet deep. Locally the Intracoastal Waterway resulted in the creation of the island of Venice, when a channel was dug from the Hatchett Creek to Alligator Creek and links the Sarasota Bay watershed with the Lemon Bay watershed. A start date for the work will be established once the plan is approved, while the overall project timetable depends on the availability of funding. There is a 10-year window for the task to be completed. If you are interested in reading more, then please click here: Intracoastal Dredging Plan

CITIZENS INSURANCE RATE INCREASES

Leaders of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. approved a proposal recently that would raise average rates by 14.2 percent this year, as they seek to push policies into the private insurance market. The proposal would need approval from the Office of Insurance Regulation before it could take effect and would lead to increases that would vary by types of policy. For example, Citizens wants to raise rates on primary-residence multi-peril policies — the most-common type of homeowners’ coverage — by 12 percent, effective Nov. 1. Before the Citizens Board of Governors approved the proposal, President and CEO Tim Cerio said Citizens’ rates are “artificially low” when compared to the private market. He said Citizens, which has seen massive growth during the past two years, needs to return to a smaller role in the market. “For the economic well-being of the people of Florida, as well as for the good of Florida’s insurance market, Citizens must return to truly being that insurer of last resort for our state,” Cerio said. “We must charge actuarially sound rates, and we must not be competitive with the private market.”

Cerio and other Citizens officials hope that changes made during a December special legislative session will bolster the market, drawing more private insurers and reinsurance dollars to Florida. Changes include trying to curb lawsuits over insurance claims. But Citizens has seen its policy count skyrocket from 569,868 on March 31, 2021, to 1,223,204 as of last week, as private insurers have dropped customers and passed along major rate hikes because of financial troubles. Cerio said Citizens expects to top 1.5 million policies by the end of this year. There’s more on this story here: Citizens Insurance Rate Hikes

BEACH PROJECT EXTENSION SOUGHT

The crunch of time slipping away finally forced the hand of Sarasota County regarding its plans to provide sand renourishment to Turtle Beach, and recently at the county commission meeting its representatives announced it would seek a year extension until April 30 of 2024. Many factors played into the decision. The county is at the mercy of what it hopes is the approval of FEMA for the delay, which last fall suddenly and unexpectedly gave the county a June 30 deadline to complete the project, after noting it was the last entity in the nation to have yet to use FEMA grant funds (roughly $4 million in this case) to replace sand that was washed away during 2016’s Hurricane Hermine. Basically, FEMA wanted to clear its books on the matter. Originally, the county believed it had as long as 2026 to complete the work on what is calling the South Siesta Beach Repair Project. It calls for the delivery by dump trucks of about 92,500 cubic yards of EPA-approved sand from an upland sand mine to be spread along a 2.1-mile southern portion of Turtle Beach, adding roughly 10 feet of width in that footprint. Early March was the projected start time, with a 60-day work window that needed to be mostly completed by May 1 when sea turtle nesting season begins. The turtles are a protected species. However, by a Feb. 15 deadline the county had received only one construction bid, prompting a two-week extension for submissions. Also, its permit from the state’s Department of Emergency Management did not arrive until Feb. 26, and by law is subject to potential opposition and subsequent review. The Siesta Key Association civic group inquired about doing just that, and was granted an early-April deadline for consideration. The SKA’s main opposition was the idea that 100 trucks each weekday in the height of tourist season would travel the south bridge, then southward down Midnight Pass Road, before entering the county park at Turtle Beach to do their dumping. An increase of traffic and safety risks were inevitable, SKA leaders said in a written protest. The task became even more formidable when the two bids that came in were for $8.3 million and $8.6 million. That’s more than double the project’s estimated cost of $4 million. However, FEMA has increased its contribution from 75% to 87.5%, Rachel Herman, manager of the county’s Environmental Protection Division, told the commission, provided the work is done by June 30. The remaining 12.5% would be covered by bed-tax allocated for beach repair as part of the county’s tourism arm. How that plays out with a possible delay is uncertain. Nonetheless, faced with not knowing FEMA’s response, it was a move-forward mentality that county commissioners took recently by unanimously approving a budget amendment to appropriate funding this year in the amount of $7,709,200 for the project, and to award a bidder for a construction contract for a not-to-exceed amount of $11 million. A late March start was the new backup plan in lieu of an extension. And instead of scrambling with more trucks per day to try and fit into the tight window of now five weeks with May 1 in mind, county employees said they’d stick with the original 60-day window and either move, or work around, turtle nests if needed. The June 30 grant deadline would be the new drop-dead completion deadline. Please follow the jump for more on this story, courtesy of Siesta Sand: Sand Haul Extension

SARASOTA AREA’S POPULATION STILL SURGING

The population of the Sarasota-Manatee area continues to surge as retirees flock to the region and workers relocate here. Sarasota and Manatee counties grew by a collective 53,611 people from July 2020 to July 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. The bureau released the 2022 population data for counties in late March. The two counties experienced a significant bump in population during the pandemic, continuing the growth of the 2010s. The total number of people living in the region increased by 131,435 between 2010 and 2020, according to official census counts. Sarasota County’s population grew by 26,079 from 2020 to 2022 – a 6% rise, according to census estimates. Manatee County’s population rose by a slightly higher number – 27,532 – over the two years, which is a 6.9% increase. Sarasota and Manatee remain the 14th and 15th largest counties, respectively, in the state. Sarasota County’s population rose by 2.8% from 2020 to 2021 and by 3.1% from 2021 to 2022. Manatee County’s population, meanwhile, grew by 3% from 2020 to 2021 and by 3.8% from 2021 to 2022. Over the one-year period from July 2021 to July 2022, 2,871 people were born in Sarasota County and 7,216 died. The net migration into the county that year was 17,350 people. There’s more on this story here: Population Still Surging

MASSIVE LAKEWOOD RANCH EXPANSION APPROVED

County commissioners gave Lakewood Ranch developers the green light for a 2,300-acre expansion for the master-planned community that will bring 4,500 new houses to Manatee County. The vote also opened the door for other powerful developers who also own undeveloped agricultural land in East Manatee to receive similar approvals, paving the way for even more homes and new roads further east than ever before. Commissioners have voiced a desire to update Manatee County’s comprehensive plan before their terms are over, and recently, the most tenured of the seven commissioners indicated those discussions could include moving the county’s urban boundary line once and for all — opening the door for developers to build dense neighborhoods further east. The developers have also requested similar approvals to build 5,000 homes on over 4,000 acres of land in a community called Lakewood Ranch Southeast in northeast Sarasota County. That decision is being challenged in court in a lawsuit filed against Sarasota County. Approval for the Lakewood Ranch expansion is already setting the stage for additional development in East Manatee across the county’s Future Development Area Boundary line. The line was established in 1989 as a part of the county’s comprehensive plan and marks the furthest to the east Manatee County provides water and sewer services to residences. It also marks the area where most of the county’s land changes to agricultural zoning. Please click here for more: Massive LWR Expansion Approved

INSURER INSOLVENCIES RAISING COSTS

State insurance regulators last week signed off on a plan that will lead to policyholders throughout Florida paying extra on their bills because of property insurer insolvencies. Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky issued an order that approved a request by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association to collect a 1% emergency “assessment” to cover costs of claims. Insurers will collect the assessments from policyholders starting in October and send the money to the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, according to the order. The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, or FIGA, is a nonprofit agency created by the state to handle claims when insurers become insolvent. It has issued a series of assessments in recent years amid financial problems in the property insurance industry. Seven property insurers have been deemed insolvent since early 2022. The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association’s board on March 31 approved seeking the emergency assessment after the insolvency of United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. That insolvency, which led to the appointment of a receiver for the company in February, is expected to lead to the association handling hundreds of millions of dollars in claims. Under the plan approved last week by regulators, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association is borrowing $150 million in short-term financing to help pay claims. It then will issue up to $750 million in revenue bonds to pay off the short-term financing and to pay remaining claims. Money from the assessments will be used to pay off the bonds. The association’s website said the 1% assessment will continue until the “bonds have been paid in full.” “The emergency assessment is necessary to secure funds for the payment of covered claims, to pay the reasonable costs to administer such claims, including claims resulting from insurance companies that have become insolvent or may become insolvent as a result of losses incurred due to hurricanes including but not limited to Hurricanes Irma, Michael and Ian, and to secure bonds issued to generate revenues to pay claims,” Florida Insurance Guaranty Association Executive Director Corey Neal wrote in an April 4 letter to Yaworsky. Please click on the link for more, courtesy of Tampa Bay Times: Insurer Insolvencies

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS AT NEW SRQ TERMINAL

Renderings of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport’s new terminal expansion depict a high-ceilinged, light facility with plenty of windows. The renderings accompanied the groundbreaking for the $73 million construction expansion project recently, as the rapidly growing airport continues to make room to service millions of travelers that have traveled through the facility in record numbers over the past five years. The terminal expansion will connect to the east end of the ticketing wing and include a four-lane security checkpoint and five boarding hold rooms with 970 seats. The new five-gate terminal will cover 75,300 square feet, and include new amenities for travelers such as a new cafe, restaurant and marketplace. Restrooms in the soon-to-come terminal will have space for the family including mothers’ nursing rooms, family restrooms, and pet relief spaces for animals. The construction project will be paid for with funding from federal and state airport authority funds. “SRQ has seen an unprecedented increase in passenger traffic and demand, growing from 6 airlines and 12 nonstop destinations to 11 airlines serving 55 nonstop destinations, over the last 5 years. This new facility will ease crowding and allow for future expansion of airlines and destinations” said airport president and CEO Rick Piccolo. There’s more on this story here: New SRQ Terminal

UNDERGROUND INJECTION OF PINEY POINT BEGINS

Efforts to permanently close the former Piney Point fertilizer plant took a major step forward recently as authorities began the controversial plan to inject pre-treated wastewater from the troubled facility deep underground. The occasion marks the first time polluted wastewater from the former Piney Point fertilizer processing plant is injected underground in Manatee County. Manatee County commissioners approved the construction of the well in 2021 as part of an overall effort by the state of Florida to permanently shutter the Piney Point facility. The state allocated $100 million in 2021 toward closure efforts, and another $85 million is in the works as part of this year’s budget. Herb Donica, a Tampa-based attorney, was appointed in court to manage plans for its closure. “This is a major deal to us, a major hurdle,” Donica told the Herald-Tribune recently. “We were able to get together for all the testing yesterday, it passed all the tests and checked all the boxes. So this morning we started putting some water down the well. We believe within a couple of weeks we can ramp it up to a million gallons per day. We’re excited about that.” The Piney Point site has reservoirs filled with hundreds of millions of gallons of polluted wastewater contaminated from former operations at the site. The polluted water is stored in massive mounds made from a material called phosphogypsum, which is a byproduct of fertilizer production. In 2021, a breach in one of those phosphogypsum stacks forced the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to authorize the release of about 215 million gallons of wastewater from the facility into Tampa Bay as an emergency measure to prevent ever worse failures at the facility. The effort to dispose of that water underground has been ongoing since.

Click here for more: Piney Point Injection Begins

SIESTA KEY HOTEL PLAN CRITICS WIN 1ST BATTLE

Siesta Key resident Lourdes Ramirez has won the first legal battle over Sarasota County’s approval of intensive hotel development proposals on the popular barrier island destination, a victory her attorney called “monumental.” If the ruling by a state administrative law judge sticks, it will mean two Siesta Key hotels approved in 2021 by the County Commission are “inconsistent” with the county’s long-range growth plan, which could, in effect, block them from being built. However, that order can be appealed, leading to additional courtroom battles. There’s also a pending trial challenging both hotels that’s scheduled for October. In the fall of 2021, Sarasota County removed a density regulation for transient accommodations that limited the number of hotel rooms to a maximum of 26 units per acre on Siesta Key, while approving a proposed 170-room hotel in Siesta Key Village. The approval came despite the county’s comprehensive plan — a blueprint for growth — preventing increase of the intensity or density of development on the area’s barrier islands above what was allowed by regulations adopted in 1989. A second 120-room hotel was also approved by the County Commission on the south end of the island. Approval of the hotel projects galvanized residents on Siesta Key, leading to public marches, town hall meetings and an effort to incorporate the barrier island into its own municipality. Ramirez sued the county after the approvals, accusing the commissioners of violating the county’s growth plan. Please click here for more: SK Hotel Critics Win

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SARASOTA’S RENTAL MARKET?

The Sarasota area’s rental market posted its first declines of the year, and rents are less than a year ago. But renters are still paying almost 50% more than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from a national apartment leasing website. Apartment List’s Rent Index reports rents in March in Sarasota decreased by 1.2% from February, compared to a national increase of 0.5%. The year-over-year rents came in at -1.4% when comparing levels in March 2023 to March 2022. Median rents stood at $1,433 for a one-bedroom unit and $1,889 for a two-bedroom, according to the report. And rent remains 46.7% higher than in March 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. The Sarasota month-over-month decrease in rents is the first since before Hurricane Ian hit Florida. In fact, Sarasota — and other Florida Gulf Coast metropolitan areas — have seen rents increase while the rest of the country had been experiencing rent decreases. This month, the opposite has occurred. That could be attributed to some seasonal slow down as snowbirds wrap up their time away from the midwest and northeast winters, although one Sarasota rental expert thinks overall demand has dropped from the sky-high peak experienced in 2021 and 2022. Jill Lyons, a nearly 18-year Sarasota real estate agent in the rental space, is the broker at Relax Realty Group, which manages more than 500 properties in the region. She said the luxury rental market has seen slowing demand as many customers who moved here during the height of the real estate demand boom, caused by increased migration tied to COVID-19, have been able to purchase homes, or seen homes under construction finished. Many real estate experts anticipated an increase in demand in Sarasota area rentals because displaced people from neighboring Charlotte and Lee counties were expected to boost demand as they recovered from Hurricane Ian. Lyons said she didn’t experience much of an increase in demand caused by Hurricane Ian. There’s more to read here: Rental Market

WARM MINERAL SPRINGS PARK REOPENS

Hundreds of local residents, snowbirds, and visitors filled Warm Mineral Springs Park in North Port recently, shortly after the gates reopened for patrons following a six-month closure because of Hurricane Ian damage. The registered historic site features the 84-degree natural spring and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. But the park, owned and now managed by the city of North Port, was closed as Ian approached last September and remained shuttered after the storm caused significant damage. Visitors and park patrons have been awaiting the park’s reopening and showed up early to take advantage of the free entry — a limited-time offer for all visitors as a thank you from the city for the community’s patience with the park restoration. Just after 9:30 a.m., approximately 270 patrons had filed into the park to enjoy the springs. An hour later, Warm Mineral Springs Park staff members had counted a total of 500 visitors. North Port’s parks and recreation marketing and engagement manager, Laura Ansel, welcomed guests as they entered. “There was a lot of work to be done and a lot of moving factors but we know how passionate many in our community are about being in the water. That has been a great challenge to overcome … it’s wonderful to be able to open those gates again and let people get back into the water that they love,” Ansel said. Among the restoration and damage clean-up projects at the park, Ansel said creating useable restrooms and having running water were crucial to reopening. Visible upgrades include portable trailers for showers, restrooms, and changing as well as the addition of new sidewalks from the parking lot to the waterfront and beach area. There’s more on this story here: Warm Mineral Springs Reopens

ASOLO REP PLANS SHOWS FOR NEW SEASON

At a time of transition for Asolo Repertory Theatre, the outgoing and incoming producing artistic directors worked together on planning shows for the 2023-24 season that will offer some major new and old musicals, plus a few American classics and newer works. Even though he doesn’t officially begin his new job until July 1, Peter Rothstein, the founding artistic director of Theatre Latté Da in Minneapolis, said he has had almost daily conversations and a “wonderful collaboration” with Michael Donald Edwards, who will step down June 30 after 18 years in Sarasota. “Usually an artistic director inherits a season and a budget that they’re responsible for but didn’t curate,” Rothstein said during a Zoom interview with Edwards in advance of the recent announcement of the new season. “It was good to have him by my side as we wrestled with titles. Will the audience want more edge or will that one be too much? What is the mix that balances the season and excites returning audiences and also helps to attract new audiences to the theater? Those are questions we discussed.” This marked the first in-person season announcement for the theater in four years. During the pandemic, Edwards revealed the lineups in online presentations. Dozens of people lined up at the box office to buy season subscriptions after the ceremony. Edwards said planning a season is “putting on a conversation with the audience. Like any conversation, it can go really well, and at times it can be a challenge. The current season comes from our current passions and concerns and interests.” The season opens with the 1992 hit Gershwin musical “Crazy for You” and closes with a new musical based on Reginald Rose’s drama “Twelve Angry Men” that Rothstein helped develop in Minneapolis. In between are the dramas “Inherit the Wind,” a new adaptation of “Dial M for Murder” and Lynn Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel,” as well as a new two-character play that has William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe working together on a play. Please click on the link: Asolo Rep New Season