The Sarasota County Commission voted Wednesday to hire a third party to review a plan to dredge Big Sarasota Pass.
Sarasota Commissioners want the third party to review a report the Army Corps of Engineers released in June. The Army Corps’ plan calls for dredging up to 1.3 million cubic yards of sand from Big Sarasota Pass that would go toward renourishing Lido Key beaches.
The report said other shorelines would not be adversely effected.
But, the commission wants to make sure and the review could cost up to $50,000.
Commissioner Nora Patterson said she wants a firm that does not have a history with the Army Corps of Engineers.
“I think you probably need somebody who knows how to do a dredge and has done that before, but if it’s somebody whose income stream has depended on the Army Corps; nobody’s really going to trust that,” she said.
Patterson also said she would like the firm to look at the possibility that the dredging will affect Siesta Key beaches to the south.
Some local organizations and businesses oppose the plan because they fear it will affect Siesta Key beaches.
