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Siesta Seen ANOTHER BARGE The local "webisphere" was abuzz again last week after another barge sighting in Big Pass. This time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was not behind the appearance. Instead, the barge was hired to help with one of the final facets of the stormwater project, formally known as the Beach Road Drainage Project, I learned. On April 15, SKA President Shay sent out the first email I saw, noting the barge had a crane on it and that it was being moved around by a small tug. Unlike the Army Corps of Engineers' vessel spotted in the pass a few weeks earlier, however, he pointed out that this one had no obvious markings on it to link it to the Corps or any other agency. "It has been moored at least for the last 2 nights in Big Pass just off the seawall at Givens St. & Ocean Blvd.," he added in the email to City Engineer Alex DavisShaw and county Coastal Resources Manager Laird Wreford. "During the day it has been seen in various spots in Big Pass itself. Any idea what it is doing?" A day later, Shay was able to get a closer look, so he sent another email to city and county staff noting that he had observed a circular emblem on the wheelhouse of the tug and on the crane, both saying "Kelly Brothers 239- 482-7300" and both with a logo of a helmeted deep sea diver. County emails were flying, too, with people apparently having contacted Commissioner Nora Patterson, who lives on Siesta. Credit SKA Vice President Catherine Luckner with the sleuthing that led to the answer. Alex Boudreau, the county project engineer in charge of the stormwater work next to Siesta Public Beach, explained to Luckner — who kindly explained it to me — that employees working for Forsberg Construction of Punta Gorda — the firm with the stormwater proj- ect contract — had hired the barge to enable divers to attach a diffuser to the pipeline that extends about 2,000 feet into the Gulf of Mexico from the stormwater site. That dif- fuser will be another element in the treatment of effluent before it is discharged into the gulf. The wind was blowing just a bit too hard for the divers to do their work underwater, Luckner said, so they were doing what they could on the barge until conditions improved. That was why the barge was in Big Pass — biding its time. During the April 22 County Commission meeting, Patterson referenced an email she had received that morning complaining about noise from the barge. Another barge in Big Pass last week prompted considerable island chatter. Contributed photo Sarasota News Leader April 25, 2014 Page 101