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Trimble Creek committee reports land purchases, urges conservation easements and maintenance plan
Summary
Donna Atherin told the commission the Trimble Creek Preservation Committee has purchased 125.37 acres with bond funds for just under $7 million, recommended conservation easements, staffing support and grant-seeking, and described flood-recovery work paid in part by a $1.6 million USDA grant.
Donna Atherin, chair of the Trimble Creek Preservation Committee, updated the City Commission on the group's work and recommendations on March 25.
"So far, we've been able to purchase 125.37 acres of property under the bond issue for a little less than $7,000,000," Atherin said, summarizing acquisitions made since the committee began in 2019. She described post-Hurricane Ian cleanup work on Page Avenue and said the committee secured a $1,600,000 award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Emergency Watershed Management Program to remove debris and restore channel flow.
Atherin urged the commission to pursue conservation easements on remaining parcels, develop an ongoing maintenance plan described as "in perpetuity," and reappoint committee members and a staff liaison to help pursue grants and volunteer partnerships, including work with the Marine Discovery Center and other local partners to remove invasive plants and open aquatic flow.
The committee also recommended installing additional aquatic openings where culverts constrain flow and exploring cost-share options for those projects. Atherin described recreational and habitat benefits from dredging and debris removal and invited commissioners to see restored reaches firsthand.
The commission directed city staff to work with Atherin and the committee to prepare a formal proposal and a path forward for the commission to consider at a future meeting; no ordinance or binding action was adopted at the March 25 session.
