Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/309372
The project is located in Luke Wood Park, on the south side of the junction of U.S. 41 and U.S. 301 near downtown Sarasota. It was created after a nearby lift station failed repeat- edly, drawing the attention of environmental regulators when hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage were dumped into Hudson Bayou and then flowed into Sarasota Bay. Affluent neighbors were outraged and then infuriated when the news broke that the city was minimizing the consequences of those spills. Susan Chapman dug into the records to uncover the ugliness. A decade later, she sits as a city commissioner, still wrestling to find a fix. Meanwhile, the original offender — Lift Station 7 — continues to handle nearly one-third of the city's sewage under the vig- ilant eye of the Utilities Department and the crossed fingers of those who live nearby. VULNERABILITIES EVERYWHERE Consultant Garland handled much of the presentation to the commission on May 5. Part of it was aesthetic. For example: If the city wants an aboveground facility, what Engineering drawings show how Lift Station 87 could be built to protect it from flooding during a Category 3 hurricane. Image courtesy McKim & Creed Sarasota News Leader May 9, 2014 Page 33