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Sarasota News Leader October 25, 2013 Page 37 pumped onto Lido Beach; insufficient sand has been found at offshore sites. The agency's modeling system identified three separate dredge sites in the pass where sand could be taken with little impact on Siesta Key to the south, Mora said. The overall project was authorized by Congress in 1999, Mora added. It was found economically feasible and environmentally sound by the Corps in 2004. During a series of public meetings, the project as planned was presented to the local community in 2003 and 2004, Mora continued. Dr. David Munro speaks to the City and County commissions on Oct. 22. Photo by Norman Schimmel The next step in the process is a permitting phase. "We are trying to position the project so we have permits for Fiscal Year 2015 or the dredging will have no negative impact on fiscal year 2016," Mora said. Siesta Key. BIG PASS CONCERNS During a joint meeting on Oct. 22 of the Sarasota County and City commissions, some residents took to the microphone during the Public Comments segment to voice their concerns about the Corps' plan. Miller also told city and county commissioners that the local governments of Longboat Key, Venice and others need to be invited to take part in a coordinated strategy for the area's beaches — instead of just spending millions on one particular beach. "There should be a coherent, coordinated Siesta resident Peter van Roekens was among strategy for our beaches," Miller pointed out. those to address the issue of dredging Big County Commissioner Nora Patterson — a Pass. Siesta resident — asked Army Corps officials "Individual consultants all had reasons why about a 2005 county study that was peer-reit didn't make sense [years ago to dredge viewed by three independent consultants. the pass]. Now there is another proposal to That study recommended the removal of sand dredge," van Roekens said. "We absolutely from Big Pass, but it did not suggest a specific need a peer review of this project. That would source — a square in the middle of the pass be my recommendation." — that is one of three "borrow" sites in the current Corps project. Jono Miller, a Sarasota conservationist who ran for the County Commission in 2008, said Patterson wanted to know why federal offifederal and local engineers cannot guarantee cials were now recommending the three