Holmes Beach is making a sweet February Valentine of piles of white beach-quality sand to the city of Anna Maria.

Dredging of some canals in Holmes Beach began Jan. 31, and the dredged sand is being trucked to Anna Maria to renourish the shore on the north and south sides of the Anna Maria City Pier.

The materials would normally be discarded or sold by the dredge company but, because it’s beach-quality, it’s a bonus for the Tampa Bay shoreline at the pier.

Anna Maria public works director George McKay said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection inspected the dredged material and judged it to be “beach compatible sand” — good enough to place on the shoreline.

Without the DEP seal of approval, the city could not have used the sand to renourish the beach, McKay said.

The sand is being stored on the north side of the Lake La Vista inlet by the city pier’s north parking lot until Anna Maria is ready to begin its bayside renourishment, said McKay.

The project also calls for installation of offshore pilings to support turbidity screens that will keep sand in place.

Once the project is complete, the pilings and screens will be removed, he said.

McKay estimated the entire project would be completed by Feb. 15, depending on weather conditions.

The sand is expected to extend the shoreline by about 10-15 feet south of the Lake La Vista inlet to the end of the city pier parking lot, “more or less,” McKay said. The renourishment area is about 500 feet long.

The Holmes Beach contractor for the project, Florida Dock & Dredge, has worked in Holmes Beach and Anna Maria in the past.

Funding for the dredging project came from Holmes Beach and a West Coast Inland Navigation District grant.