STEVE REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com
Forget the cliché: in today’s accelerated world, the new idiom is “What a difference a week makes.”
That certainly held true for Longboat Key Town Manager Howard Tipton who returned from a brief visit to South Africa with his wife, Marion, whom he married in 1985 in Cape of Good Hope.
Within a week, the St. Regis Hotel and Condominium opened marking the end of one singularly contentious era and the embodiment of the area’s real estate renaissance.
The counterpoint from a Town Manager’s point of view was yet another deluge of more than eight inches of rain that highlighted the flood prone vulnerabilities of our barrier island.
Longboat Key News spoke with Tipton upon his return about the issues facing Longboat now and in the very near future. Here’s what he had to say:
What areas on Longboat Key were most impacted by the recent rain?
Things generally went well. We had 12-13 inches on the island over three or four days in ground that was already somewhat saturated. We lost some sand on the beach, the Town’s largest investment, but some of the sand will wash back over the next few months. It is still in the near shore system. We also had damage to the Linley Street Boat Ramp. Ironically, we fared a heck of a lot better than inland communities where the water had nowhere to go. We are facing another 8-10 inches over the next week. FEMA personnel have come out to see if we could make a claim for some of the damages.
What is the Town’s position on the degrading water quality in the Bay after the storms?
I’ve been watching Dave Tomasko’s reports from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. He is saying that the wastewater is the number-one threat to the health of the Bay. Runoff from the storm is second. This inundation is overrunning the wastewater system and the nutrients and impurities are entering the Bay bringing algae reactions and blooms, low oxygen levels, fish kills and other deleterious outcomes. We didn’t have a cloud in the sky this time last year.
What is the Town doing to address sea level rise and the cost of infrastructural improvements?
The Gulf waters have risen faster than the upper parts of the U.S. coastline. This is compounded when rain has nowhere to go, tides get higher and when super moons are present. We are looking at raising roads and making structural changes. We are in the planning stage not the building stage. In detail, we are in the design phase in the Buttonwood and Sleepy Lagoon neighborhoods.
What about Longbeach Village on the north end where flooding has been endemic for decades?
In the Village we are reimagining how the drainage system could work. The Village is the oldest part of the developed island, the first neighborhood. It was not built or designed with storm water in mind or streets that flood regularly. When the tide is high, there’s nowhere for the water to go. We need pumps or some way to put water into the Bay off of the streets. It is a major project.
I am hearing road elevations, seawalls and large-scale sub aqueous pumps. This sounds like a multi-million dollar endeavor. Is there any federal money to help the town?
This all comes under ‘resiliency’ and there is federal money available for these issues. But the federal money pays for public infrastructure and while raising roads can help it does not mean that houses aren’t still low lying and flooding. We have to look at homes and what can be done to harden or elevate homes. The federal money comes out of the National Flood Insurance Program.
When water accumulates in the roads, is it generally rainwater, saltwater or brackish?
Sometimes it is all rain and then fresh water; if it is a tidal surge, it is salt water. But it can be both. Fresh water is okay to drive through but salt water can really corrode vehicles. The agencies that help pay for resiliency don’t want to pay for the design work, that is on us. They want to pay for construction. There is a lot of money out there for this issue.
Let us pivot to Longboat’s cultural corner. Earlier you said the future Longboat Key Public Library fundraising for the enhancements desired by the community had to be completed by now to meet Sarasota County’s timeline. Has the money been raised?
We don’t have the money yet. We are having meetings with donors; it is still a work in process.
What about the County deadline? I thought it dictated that if the funds for the expanded scope the town wants are not raised by the end of August that the County would build a more generic facility? Where does it stand?
We expressed to the County we are going to need more time. It’s a difficult time to reach out to residents. I am optimistic the County wants to build the right library for the community.
If the funds don’t come out of private philanthropy, will they possibly be imposed on taxpayers through the town budget?
We have not had that discussion. The plan was and is to privately raise the additional funds. We are sticking with the plan we’ve had some good conversations, and I’m still optimistic. The timing originally was aggressive.
You have been Town Manager for a year and a half, long after the St. Regis Hotel was approved. What has been your take on the process and your feeling about its completion for the community?
When I came aboard it was under construction and had all the approvals. I was part of their desire for a parking garage. Otherwise, it has been an amazing project to watch. The Moss Construction team was extraordinary. They bussed the more than 800 people on the site everyday to minimize traffic. They limited dust and when we got complaints, they were very responsive. The St. Regis is truly a first class resort. Longboat was already on the map, the St. Regis just made our star that much brighter. Next year when the St. Regis is reassessed for the tax rolls, the economic impact on the town as well as the entire county will be very positive.
What is the state of the beach and where do we stand with our canal dredging program?
We’re going to some beach work around Gulfside Drive it is highly eroded. As for canals, this fall we will bring the canal maintenance program back to the commission. We have shrunk the scope of the project and not all 80 canals on the island need to be maintained.
What is the payment methodology going to be for canals? Will it be like the beach taxing districts? Will the canal front owners pay directly?
That is what to be discussed. It will be a combination of a town-wide millage and some special assessments for canal front owners who enjoy an additional benefit from the canals.
And now for the unglamorous cost and future of the main sewer pipe that spewed millions of gallons into the bay a few years ago. When will it be replaced?
We will have to decide in March how to pay for that. The cost has increased and will be north of $20 million. There is no choice, we have to do it. The question is how do we want to finance it? If voters approve, there is a state revolving loan fund that has a lower interest rate. If not, there are traditional revenue bonds that the commission can issue against the projected income of the utility bills. The residents and taxpayers will pay and I hope they opt for the less expensive route that requires a referendum. Either way, it will be paid through increased rates proportional to usage.
What about noise on the north end of the key and boaters on Beer Can Island?
We will soon be getting a report on the scope of police activity on the north end. The Police Chief thinks people are generally following the rules and boaters are staying where they are supposed to and out of the swimming-only area.
What about the goal of some Longboaters to move the no-swim zone west toward the Longboat Pass Bridge?
We are work shopping this in the fall. The permitting effort to get where we are today took a Herculean effort. Manatee County has a say and has objected in the past. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are involved. The land belongs to Manatee County and what we have is a compromise. There will always be an idiot now and again, but people are following the signage out there.
