Do Not Stick Your Head In The Sand

The New Pass shoaling less than a year after being dredged is the final proof of the futility of dredging Big Pass. Not only will this dredge imperil the Siesta Key shorelines and beaches, it will remove Sarasota’s only access to the Gulf waters. Whether you are a boater, property owner or visitor there is nothing good in store for you if this Big Pass dredge occurs.

 

We can stop the ACOE and the City from moving forward with this disastrous plan at the August hearing where we must prevail.  We need all the support you can provide. You may have already given generously or perhaps you have been waiting for others to donate in the hope that you will not have to do so. If the final permit is granted, it will be too late.

 

Please donate now.  

 
 
P.S. Insure we do not lose what we have - please help now as every donation counts

SOSS2 has had a singular focus since our founding.

Our mission statement is to ensure no harm comes to our environment including Siesta Key beaches, waterfront property and navigation in Big Pass as well as the diverse ecology of the area. And once we defeat this current proposal with your help, any unspent funds will be held in perpetuity to defeat any subsequent attempt to harm our environment by dredging the Big Pass shoal.

Mr. Barwin, Sarasota’s City Administrator,  has been telling the media that we will not talk to him. We have been talking to Mr. Barwin and/or his staff since early 2013. The meetings became more frequent in 2015 and 2016. While our reasons are different, one area that we agree upon is the need for a Plan B that does not involve taking sand from the Big Pass shoal - a plan similar to the previous thirteen renourishments of Lido Key Beach.

We have made excellent progress building our war chest due to our many donors who understand the existential threat to Siesta Key by dredging Big Pass shoal. If you have not donated recently, please do so as we are still about $85,000-100,000 short of what we will need to call a full range of witnesses and have sufficient expert testimony. Please contribute your share as some people on limited retirement incomes have extended themselves to their very limits to stop this dredge. We can win, but funds are needed now as our lawyers detail their final plans.

The City/ACOE Project to dredge Big Pass and place groins on Lido Key is to be permitted later this month.

Please send your tax-free donation to Save Our Siesta Sand today! Why is this important? We have lawyers working at the state level to stop this project and then, if needed at the federal level with Florida Wildlife Federation. Lawyers are expensive but without them we have no ability to stop this dredging project. Please donate generously via check or online at www.soss2.com/donate

The City/ACOE Project to dredge Big Pass and place groins on Lido Key is to be permitted later this month. What does that mean to you as a property owner or even as a renter? It means that dredges will be stationed off our beaches pumping sand 24 hours a day, seven days a week for months at a time. As you undoubtedly know this will not be a quiet operation. That is not the worst part of this plan. Right now, most of our beaches are wide and stable. Once they remove major portions of our shoal, no one knows what will happen. The Atkins peer review requested by the County indicated that they cannot support the ACOE claims of no harm to our beaches and shorelines. Several previous studies have said that it could drastically affect our beaches. Common sense says if you remove sand that is between your property and the water, whatever happens is not very likely to be good.

P.S. Save Our Siesta Sand is committed to take legal action. We need your tax-free donations now to challenge this dredge.  When you are considering the amount of your contribution, think about the current value of your property and what that value would be if your beach is destroyed. We need your generous gift today before the tax year ends. Next year may be too late. www.soss2.com/donate

Siesta Key Association Holiday Meeting

When: Thursday Dec. 1, 2016 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Where: The Community Center of St. Boniface Episcopal Church, located at 5615 Midnight Pass Rd. 34242

Details: Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at Florida International University, Stephen Leatherman, also known as "Dr. Beach", will offer comments regarding the proposed Big Sarasota Pass dredging and the loss of seagrass to the Pass.  He will also discuss what it would take to rename Siesta Beach #1 again.

For more information on Dr. Beach and this week's meeting, please CLICK HERE.

Save Our Siesta Sand Lido Key Nourishment Public Meeting

Save Our Siesta Sand  Lido Key Nourishment Public Meeting When: Wednesday Nov. 30, 2016 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Where: Fire Station No. 2 - located at 2070 Waldemere St., Sarasota, FL 34239 Details: The Lido Beach Nourishment meeting is a public meeting open to all interested parties.  The meeting will provide an overview of the proposed project and an opportunity for the public to learn more information about specific components of the project, including engineering analysis, resource impacts and mitigation, fish and wildlife analysis and permitting and proprietary criteria.  (Note:each project component will be housed at individual stations to allow for discussions with the experts.) For more information on the meeting and SOSS, CLICK HERE.

Save our Siesta Sand

On November 2nd, 2015 Save our Siesta Sand requested that the State of Florida hold a public hearing on the request for easements for the Lido Key project. This public hearing has never been held. Instead a year later the State has scheduled a meeting which does not satisfy our request for a public hearing. Here is their description:
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Event Title: Lido Key Nourishment Public Meeting
Location: Fire Station No. 2, 2070 Waldemere Street, Sarasota, FL 34239
Date: Nov 30 2016
Time: 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Event Details: The Lido Key Nourishment meeting is a public meeting open to all interested parties. The meeting will provide an overview of the proposed project and an opportunity for the public to learn more information about specific components of the project, including engineering analysis, resource impacts and mitigation, fish and wildlife analysis, and permitting and proprietary criteria. Each project component will be housed at individual stations to allow for discussions with the experts.
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Aside from the fact this is not a public hearing, there are several concerns with this format vs. a panel. First, there may not be sufficient time for questions and answers after the presentation. Secondly, the questions and answers cannot be heard by all those at the meeting. Nonetheless, I urge you to attend if you are in town as we all may learn something new. Parking is limited so be there early.

Here is the permit status.  The DEP has until December 27th to issue their ruling which will be either to issue an intent to deny or an intent to permit. Given all the signs it does not take a rocket scientist to determine their choice. SOSS2 then has 14 days to file our suit and we need your help now to do that. Please go to www.soss2.com to show your support with your generous tax free donation.

The Army Corps has responded to the FDEP’s second request for additional information (RAI #2).

There are numerous problems with the response to RAI#2.  For example, they do not have permission to use the County’s Ted Sperling parking lot for a staging area and they have not produced an Environmental Impact Statement which is in violation of NEPA’s rules. The FDEP has 30 days to either accept the response or request additional information which would become RAI #3.  If FDEP accept the answers they have up to 60 days to issue the Intent to Permit.

Our Giving Challenge starts next month at noon on September 20^th and runs for a 24 hour period.  Every donation up to $100 will be doubled by the Community Foundation and the Patterson Foundation.

Please mark September 20^th on your calendar. We will send a Newsletter shortly before the Giving Challenge begins reminding you of this and providing the participation details. We need to raise thousands of dollars to sustain our lawsuit and this is a perfect way to do it. More next month when you will have a chance to be the one that makes a difference by contributing to the Giving Challenge!