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Staff previews inlet dredging, spoil-site permitting and mitigation plans; residents raise manatee concerns
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Summary
Canal maintenance staff described upcoming inlet dredging, sonar surveys to maintain navigable depth, and permit-driven mitigation at Buckley Pass tied to the Colony Point spoil site; residents warned dredging could fill winter manatee refuges and staff said they will coordinate timing and consider alternate spoil handling.
At the April 20 meeting, Mark Storm, Canal Maintenance with Public Works, gave a multi-part update on dredging and spoil-site permitting. Storm said the city is near completion on portions of the Hurricane Ian seawall program, has pending seawall applications to show on the May report, and is scheduling inlet dredging and sonar surveys to preserve the canal system’s target depth of about 6 feet.
Storm described permitting progress for the Colony Point spoil site, saying engineering consultants filed revised plans and that mitigation — proposed as restoration work in the Buckley Pass area — is under review by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers. He said a meeting with state agencies was scheduled and staff hopes to receive approvals to proceed.
Residents from Tarpon Cove and other neighborhoods asked whether dredging that fills deep holes could eliminate warm-water refuges for manatees in winter. Ronald Ludwig and other residents said some local basins have long-standing deep holes that serve as manatee habitat; they asked whether those areas could be exempted from spoil disposal and whether timing could avoid sensitive periods.
Storm acknowledged the concern and explained that permitted dredging practices call for sediment to be dumped into designated deeper holes and contained there so it does not float through channels; he also noted DEP limits on using holes less than 10 feet deep for temporary storage. As a contingency, Storm said the contract allows barging spoils to shore-based sites (including land the city owns at Colony Point) where sediments can be contained, dried and trucked to a spoil site, a measure he said staff could trigger if environmental or habitat concerns warrant it.
Storm committed to additional sonar and depth verification, to coordinate scheduling with contractors, and to report back to the committee. The committee did not vote on new permits at this meeting; staff said further permitting steps await agency approvals.
