The head of Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources named his beach management update “Beach Renourishment 101 Refresher.”
Charlie Hunsicker, director of county parks and natural resources, along with Tom Pierro, principal engineer with Coastal Protection Engineering, gave Holmes Beach city commissioners an overview with a history lesson Dec. 10 as planning continues to nourish island beaches with sand.
“Sometimes Mother Nature needs some help,” Hunsicker said of the multimillion-dollar project set to commence in February or March 2020.
Hunsicker said almost 6 million cubic feet of sand has been placed on Anna Maria Island beaches since 1992, the year of the first renourishment.
Pierro previewed plans for 2020 saying beach renourishment is not a single project but an ongoing program to protect and maintain island beaches.
“Not to oversimplify. But storms take the sand away. Renourishment puts it back,” Pierro said.
The 2020 schedule calls for two renourishment efforts.
The “central beach project” will stretch from 78th Street North in Holmes Beach to about Fifth Street South in Bradenton Beach. Federal funding from the Army Corps of Engineering will pay 59.05% of the cost and the remaining 40.95% will be split between the state and county.
That total projected cost is $20.5 million, with a federal share of $11.6 million, and a state and local share of $4.5 million.
The southern renourishment, the Coquina Beach segment, will begin at Fifth Street South in Bradenton Beach and end at Longboat Pass. The cost will be split 50/50 between the state and the county.
Pierro said $2.65 million will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $1.1 million will be split evenly by the state and county.
The county is partnering with the Corps to carry out both projects.
Pierro said sand for the renourishment will be excavated from the Gulf of Mexico seafloor, 4,000 feet offshore of the north end of Anna Maria Island near Bean Point.
The sand will be pumped through a pipeline, to be moved down the beach as work progresses south.
The sand will be placed to widen beaches, with grading and dressing planned.
Pierro said it will take about six months to a year for renourished areas to settle and adjust. Renourishment should last six-eight years.
Following the presentation, Jeff Gerry, owner of White Sands Beach Resort, 6504 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, asked Hunsicker about the staging of heavy equipment and the duration of the renourishment work.
Gerry said during a project in 2013-14, heavy equipment and pipes were in front of his property for more than a month, resulting in $40,000 worth of refunds to unhappy guests.
Hunsicker said Manatee Public Beach, 4000 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, was approved by the county commissioners Dec. 10 as the access location for the first renourishment project and heavy equipment will enter the beaches from there.