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Sarasota News Leader January 18, 2013 Page 85 Siesta Seen Addressing a list of concerns the council had given her, Patterson also pointed out that Big Pass "never has been dredged" in all the years she has been a Sarasota County resident — since 1970. In discussing the recurring need to renourish Lido Beach, Patterson noted, "Because Lido has been eyeballing the shoal that sits off Siesta Key, which keeps growing and growing and growing, [and] because the cost of renourishing a beach is largely dependent on where your sand source is and where you have to pipe [the sand], the City of Sarasota has always been wanting to harvest sand from that shoal [in Big Pass.]" As for the groins: She said each structure would be 50 to 75 feet long. On the west coast of Florida, Patterson explained, sand migrates from north to south as a general rule. If groins are built on the south end of Lido, she added, they will slow erosion along the northern part of the island and along at least part of Longboat. However, they can "starve" the area to the south, where sand has been accreting, "and cause a lot of problems." Patterson added, "I don't know, honestly, what the county's position will be on that or whether the Army Corps will listen to us …." Regarding Turtle Beach's next renourishment, Patterson noted it probably will get under way She continued, "It was huge flap" in 1998 — in about two years with a cost of approximatethe same year she first was elected to the ly $11 million, "which is about what it cost before." County Commission — when not only the City of Sarasota but also the City of Venice wanted The county has been setting aside Tourist Development Tax revenue to cover the public's to harvest sand from the shoal. share of funding the project, which is about Even though Venice is much farther away 45 percent of the total, she added. than Lido, she explained, "the quality of sand "If we are lucky again to get state support," is good [and the shoal is] a lot closer than a she added, that would cover about 36.26 permile or two offshore." cent of the cost. Property owners along the beach would pick up the remaining 18.4 perThe County Commission has resisted those cent, as they did when the beach was renourmunicipalities' yearnings, Patterson added, ished in 2007, Patterson said. because of concern about what would happen Just about the time the landowners finish payto Siesta's beaches if Big Pass were dredged. ing for that earlier renourishment, they would Now, it will be up to the Corps of Engineers to make the decision on whether the sand will come from the Big Pass shoal or from New Pass. start covering the cost of the next one, she added. "I can't guarantee the percentages will be the same," she cautioned, "but we'll certainly try."