FL - Pinellas County begins emergency beach restoration in Treasure Island
Pinellas County officials are taking emergency measures to shore up some beaches that were slammed by Hurricane Idalia. It will be paid for with money from county tourist development taxes.
The project is starting on Sunset Beach in Treasure Island, and will soon move to other impacted areas. Sand is expected to be trucked in beginning Friday, said Pinellas County spokesman Tony Fabrizio. Vegetation will be then planted on the newly-created dunes.
"They're triaging the erosion, the damage that occurred from Hurricane Idalia," he said. "And there are other locations that we're going to be looking at: Clearwater, North Redington, Belleair Beach, generally the areas where we typically conduct nourishment, plus possibly Madeira Beach and Belleair Shores have expressed some interest in having dunes placed on their sand."
"They are actually trucking in sand from a location about 90 miles away, where they have sand that is very compatible with our beach sand," he said.
Fabrizio said the county is hoping for - but not requiring - temporary construction easements from every beachfront property owner. An Army Corps of Engineers renourishment project in Pinellas County has been held up for years because the corps wants permanent easements.
"If you're constructing dunes, they're going to be along the entire shore there," he said. "But if you go down there and visually inspect the the amount of erosion that we had down there, the property owners are concerned and rightfully so. And so I think, you know, we're pretty confident we're going to get a high level of cooperation on these easements."
The $6 million Sunset Beach project will be paid for by county tourist development taxes. Fabrizio said the county will then apply for a grant or cost share with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
"During beach nourishment, we dredged the sand from offshore. But in this instance, it's an emergency project. And there's no time to set up a dredge. So they're bringing in the sand," he said. "So it'll offer a tremendous amount of storm benefit compared to what we have there now."
Here's more information from the city of Treasure Island:
