STEVE REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com
In a marathon session that stretched late into the evening, the Sarasota County Commission aggressively moved to fortify the region against future storms, approving approximately $57 million in federal disaster recovery funding.
The decision, handed down Tuesday, Dec. 16, prioritizes hard infrastructure over aesthetics, delivering a $13.5 million lifeline to St. Armands Circle—a move celebrated not just by merchants, but by thousands of Longboat Key residents for whom the Circle represents the road to safety.
The funds, drawn from a larger U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) block grant tied to Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton, were distributed among nine projects. While the $16 million Forest Lakes Floodplain initiative took the top spot, the battle for St. Armands’ future dominated the dais, resulting in the rejection of experimental mitigation methods in favor of heavy-duty mechanical solutions. It also pivoted on the realization that the district is a critical choke point for the entire barrier island chain.
The St. Armands Verdict: Pumps Over Pavement
The approval of $13.5 million for the St. Armands Resiliency & Flood Mitigation Project marks a decisive victory for the barrier islands, though it fell short of the city’s original $24.5 million request.
Facing a district often dismissed as affluent, business owners and officials argued that the Circle is an economic engine powered by a working-class labor force. Eleni Sokos, executive vice-president of Oysters Rock Hospitality, told commissioners that the funding was a strategic economic investment rather than a symbolic handout. She warned that without protecting the “economic vitality and sense of place” of the district, the livelihoods of low- and moderate-income hospitality workers would face long-term erosion from repeated flooding.
The pressure worked. The presence of Longboat Key Mayor Ken Schneier and Deputy Town Manager Isaac Brownman at the meeting signaled the gravity of the situation. Following two hours of public testimony from a coalition of residents, Longboat Key officials, and barrier island employers, the Commission approved the funding—but with strict caveats.
Acting on the advice of Commissioner Mark Smith, an architect by trade, the Board slashed funding for “underground storage vaults” and “aluminum flood barriers.” Smith argued the barriers should be a private expense and calculated that the proposed $500,000 vaults would hold only 528,000 gallons—roughly 0.6 inches of water across the 132-acre area—rendering them mathematically ineffective.
Instead, the $13.5 million will be funneled strictly into “hard” infrastructure: new high-capacity stormwater pumps, backup generators, discharge piping, and hardened outfalls with check valves.
Designing from the Dais
The debate over the St. Armands engineering specifics became so granular that County Administrator Jonathan Lewis had to summon Stormwater Director Ben Quartermaine back to the meeting while he was driving home.
Upon his return to the podium, Quartermaine validated the Commission’s skepticism regarding the storage vaults. “Because these areas are so low… any storage of rainfall becomes problematic,” Quartermaine explained, noting that watertight vaults in such high water tables risk “popping up” or floating if not perfectly engineered.
Commissioner Teresa Mast drove the “infrastructure first” mandate home, refusing to support a requested $2.8 million for design and architectural services. “The need is so great,” Mast argued, pushing to maximize the spend on physical pumps and generators. The County’s stormwater department will now assume responsibility for the design and construction, ensuring the project focuses on keeping the State Road 789 evacuation route dry.
Following the Money: The $57 Million Breakdown
The Commission faced what Commissioner Ron Cutsinger called “an absolutely impossible task,” sifting through 25 applications totaling over $174 million in requests with only $57 million available.
The final distribution heavily favored massive civil engineering projects over community facilities, adhering to a strict hierarchy of need:
• $16 Million: Sarasota County Forest Lakes Floodplain Creation & Mitigation (Top Award).
• $15 Million: River Road Interstate Connector upgrades in Englewood—a critical evacuation route improvement.
• $13.5 Million: City of Sarasota St. Armands Resiliency Project.
• $6 Million: Bahia Vista Flood Mitigation Project.
• $3 Million: Southgate Regional Lift Station Expansion.
• $3 Million: Newtown Boys & Girls Club Rebuild (The largest non-profit award).
• $750,000: Venice YMCA Campus Improvements (Commercial kitchen rebuild).
• $261,000: Family Promise Shamrock Emergency Shelter.
• $179,000: Sarasota County Sewer Lift Station Bypass Pumps.
A Community Mobilized
The St. Armands award serves as a case study in civic mobilization. Chris Goglia, President of the St. Armands Residents Association, noted that without the physical presence of the City’s interim manager, Public Works director, and Longboat Key leadership, the project “may not have received any funding at all.”
“It was extremely gratifying to witness the number of people who spoke in support of this project, as well as the diverse interests they represented,” Goglia stated following the vote.
The allocation adds to the county’s previous full funding of the Hudson Bayou and Whitaker Bayou dredging projects, cementing this funding cycle as one of the most significant infrastructure investments in the city’s recent history.
