Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/116876
Sarasota News Leader March 22, 2013 ���I know no one wants a mountain out there,��� Commissioner Charles Hines said, though he cautioned staff to be sure only 10,000 cubic yards would be needed for the improvements at the beach park. It would be costly to underestimate the amount of fill and end up again paying more than estimated, he pointed out. Page 50 An 8-foot-high, temporary construction fence would help obscure the park improvements from Beach Road once they were under way, she added. Chairwoman Carolyn Mason asked, ���How are we communicating with the residents out there about this issue?��� Her primary concern, ���I���m sure we can address that with our con- she added, ���is that we make some real extra special efforts to communicate with the resisultant,��� Eastwood replied. dents about what they can expect.��� When Hines then asked whether more money could be saved by finding a use for the rest Eastwood said staff could do that. of the spoil material, Eastwood explained Patterson suggested Eastwood and her team that the remainder would be hauled to Na- contact the condominium complexes closest than Benderson Park off University Parkway, to the project site and ask the managers to where construction is under way on an in- distribute a letter with information for their ternational-level rowing facility. ���They have owners. a significant need for additional fill for that Robinson also asked that the county website project,��� she noted. include detailed information about the work. In response to questions from Patterson, EastBEACH ROAD ITSELF wood pointed out that a vegetation buffer of about 20 feet would be maintained ���right next Patterson took the opportunity during the to Beach Road��� until work on the park im- discussion to clarify whether the stormwater provements necessitate clearing that area for project will improve drainage on Beach Road. new tennis courts. Curtis Smith, the project manager, explained ���I want to know what we���re cutting down to that the initiative would reduce or eliminate the tidal influence on the road���s drainage sysfacilitate the project,��� Patterson told her. tem. Sometimes when the tide is very high, About 95 percent of the affected trees would he added, water from the island���s Grand Cabe exotic species, mostly Australian pines, nal rises enough to flow into the stormwater Eastwood replied. However, some Brazilian treatment system. ���So [the project] will help pepper trees and some cabbage palms would to minimize [that].��� be included, she said. Smith confirmed that it would not reduce the When Hines asked whether the trees would level of water standing on Beach Road during have to be removed even if the commission periods of heavy rain, for example, a situation nixed the idea of stockpiling the spoil materi- that often draws complaints of residents and al, Eastwood said that was correct. visitors to Siesta Key. %