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Commission backs WCIND dredging and navigability steps for Phillippi Creek; staff to pursue expedited Army Corps permits
Summary
The county approved interlocal and funding steps to allow WCIND to proceed with an initial Phillippi Creek dredging project and to reclassify additional creek reaches for future funding; commissioners stressed urgency after residents said homes flooded repeatedly last season.
After weeks of constituent pressure over repeated floods and clogged channels on Phillippi Creek, the Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on May 5 to approve interlocal agreements and project steps that will enable dredging work and future funding through WCIND and related programs.
The board approved three consent items related to Phillippi Creek: an interlocal agreement with WCIND to permit a near-term dredging contract from U.S. 41 to the creek mouth; a reclassification request to make an upstream reach eligible for WCIND and other funding; and a later-stage agreement to use WCIND to perform a larger, multi-mile phase of dredging to Beniva. All three motions passed unanimously.
Residents, many of whom had lost months of housing after last year’s storms, told commissioners the creek’s oxbows and branches are severely shoaled and that localized sandbars now block navigation and inhibit stormwater flows. “My house flooded. I had two feet of water in the house and was displaced for months,” Jacob Crabtree told the board, and other speakers said shoaling has reduced depths in places to inches.
Staff described a two-phase approach. Phase 1 targets “high spot” shoals that are most clearly attributable to recent storm accretion and for which the Army Corps of Engineers offers an expedited review; staff said they anticipated submitting materials for that expedited review within days or weeks. Phase 2 is a broader, more uniform dredging template that will require standard Corps permitting and additional engineering. County staff said the DEP has an emergency order that can ease state permitting steps, and that they are coordinating permits and consultations with the Army Corps, Florida DEP and other agencies.
Commissioners and staff emphasized the need to balance speed with regulatory compliance. Commissioner Smith said he wanted the fastest feasible timetable because of imminent hurricane season; staff estimated the expedited Army Corps path could allow some work within 30–60 days for limited “high spot” dredging, while full-phase permitting could take 3–4 months or longer.
Why it matters: residents and property owners on Phillippi Creek said the creek’s decreased capacity contributed to home flooding during multiple storms and that delayed maintenance risked further damage in the coming storm season. Commissioners described the item as a high priority and asked staff to pursue every legally available path to start urgent corrective work while pursuing broader, permitted solutions.
What’s next: staff will submit a package to the Army Corps to pursue the expedited review for the most critical shoals, coordinate DEP emergency processes, and work with WCIND and the board on the scope and delivery of the phase-two contract.
