Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/235968
Sarasota News Leader January 3, 2014 of the property owners agree to the proposal. Only 6 percent actually vote no. Eleven ballots were not returned, making up the remaining 26 percent. What's next for the rejuvenated district? Chairman Marty Rappaport is conducting a feasibility study for a parking garage (or maybe two?) on city-owned lots. "Hopefully we'll get a garage," he says. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manager in charge of the planned $22.7 million Lido Beach renourishment project expresses confidence on Sept. 18 that dredging sand from Big Pass and placing three groins on the southern end of Lido would not harm either the pass or Siesta Key Public Beach. "The only logical solution for initial construction and … subsequent renourishment material is to recycle Page 95 the accumulated sand [from Big Pass], which originally came from Lido Key," Milan A. Mora tells members of the Sarasota County Coastal Advisory Committee. The project team hopes to start the permitting process with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in the next month or two — late October or early November, Mora says, and he is hopeful the state will grant the permit within a year, though he concedes he has no idea how long the review would take. Nonetheless, funding for the Lido project is not included in the federal budget for 2014. Mora adds that he hopes the funding will be granted for the 2015 fiscal year. "I cannot comment on internal policy of the Corps, but it could be as early as 2015 … It all depends on what Congress decides to appropriate, and right now, all I know is we're asking for it." Property owners agreed to extend the life of the St. Armands Business District for another decade. Photo by Norman Schimmel