In December, a long-awaited project began to dredge parts of Phillippi Creek, a major waterway in Sarasota that has filled up with sand and sediment over the years.
But the county stormwater director said last month that work on the middle section must wait until more permits are obtained for a wider dredging of the creek, pushing the work on that entire area back to December 2026.
Hurricane season runs June 1 to Nov. 30.
“We've got two phases,” stormwater director Ben Quartermaine told county commissioners at a meeting on Jan. 27.
“The high spot dredge, that what's going on now, has the biggest impact in terms of hydraulic function impact to the floodplain. Phase two, this next phase, really is more creek restoration, ecological environmental restoration," Quartermaine said.
Work is currently underway to dig out sedimentation from the mouth of Phillippi Creek to approximately a quarter-mile east of U.S. 41, according to the county. This work on the lower creek will carve a channel 30 feet wide by four feet deep.
The next phase, called "maximum allowable dredge," tackles the middle section, where the current work ends, up to Beneva Road, and would dredge 50 feet wide along the center of the creek.
Quartermaine acknowledged that he “initially” aimed for that work to begin in “early spring,” but that he’s learned a lot since taking on the role of stormwater director, especially regarding the complicated permitting process.
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“The reality is, the maximum allowable dredge, how we're proposing it, potentially impacts sea grasses and oysters, and that permitting is a six to nine-month permitting (process). But I recommend we do that, and so that means that we wouldn't have a contract for phase two until the end of the year," Quartermaine said.
Quartermaine downplayed concerns about the potential for flooding in the middle parts of the creek that have not yet been dredged, but Phillippi Creek resident Kristy Molyneaux, whose home flooded three times in 2024’s trio of powerful storms, is concerned.
“I know Ben has a degree behind his name, but I have real-life experience, living on the creek, and what actually happened. And it was bad,” Molyneaux said.
Sand and sediment have accumulated in the center of the creek, and she wonders what will happen when the newly dredged parts of the creek allow water to move quickly through.
“There's going to be higher volume, higher flow, higher velocity, that is going to come rushing down to the middle section of the creek. And the middle section is still full of sediment,” she said.
Molyneaux and several others plan to speak during the public comment period at Tuesday’s county commission meeting and ask for a motion requiring the stormwater department to act faster.
They want the county to use the permit it currently has to dredge a narrow channel all the way through the creek.
“That at least gives us some relief before hurricane season, that will help the drainage and the flow of water. At least it does something,” Molyneaux said.
After that, the county could proceed with the next phase, which involves a “continuous dredge of 50 feet wide by 4 feet deep along the creek centerline,” according to county documents. This is the portion that would require more extensive environmental permitting, according to Quartermaine.
“They're dredging this with Resilient SRQ disaster money,” said Molyneaux, referring to hurricane relief funds that come from the federal government. “The spirit of that money is it’s supposed to go towards the people that were that were devastated.”
