Residents urge Sarasota County to expand Phillippi Creek dredging after August floods

Scores of homeowners and neighborhood leaders told the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners on March 12 that silted sections of Phillippi Creek and its oxbow canals must be dredged and kept clear to prevent repeat flooding.

"Our garage was flooded to 4 and a half inches. If the water had been a half inch higher, the whole house would have been inundated," said Anthony Weiner, who lives on Tanglewood Drive, speaking during the meeting's public-comment period. Neighbors and community groups followed with similar accounts of damaged possessions, stranded residents and prolonged displacement.

Nadia Bowen, representing the Southgate Community Association, said the association represents more than 2,000 homes and asked the county to include Southgate’s oxbow canals and extend the dredging plan at least to Pinecraft. "These canals are not just aesthetic features. They are direct stormwater discharge points," Bowen said.

Residents described decades of gradual sediment build-up that they say has reduced channel depth and conveyed stormwater poorly. Retired engineer Malcolm Scott told commissioners that the creek’s hydraulic radius has fallen and that dredging previously produced measurable improvements.

County staff said they are coordinating closely with the West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND), which has a program and millage for navigable-waterway maintenance. Spencer Anderson, Sarasota County Public Works director and county engineer, said WCIND has a contractor for maintenance from just east of U.S. 41 to the creek mouth and has completed bathymetry up to Beniva Road. WCIND’s initial construction estimate for the West-of-41 section was discussed in the meeting as roughly $2.25 million.

Anderson said the current survey did not include oxbows but that staff intends to survey them and consider them in any future project. He cautioned that dredge cost depends heavily on how and where spoil is managed or disposed of.

Several residents urged faster action, including the use of emergency permitting authorities. Commissioners explored emergency-dredge options, permitting and funding sources — including the possibility and limits of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster funds and WCIND funds — and directed staff to accelerate coordination with WCIND on design and permitting.

Commissioner Smith moved to authorize staff to work with WCIND on permitting and design up to Beniva, and Commissioner Mast seconded the motion; the board approved the motion unanimously. County staff said they will return with required ratifications and additional details.

The county’s presentations at the meeting also emphasized that dredging the main channel may not address all localized problems: staff and some speakers underscored the need for follow‑up maintenance, sediment trapping, and a broader set of stormwater actions to prevent re‑silting and downstream impacts.

What happens next: staff will pursue design and permitting with WCIND, run the feasibility study to determine dredge volumes and costs, and return to the board for ratification of funding and implementation steps. Residents asked that oxbows and privately accessed canals be explicitly evaluated and that communications continue as projects move forward.