City of Sarasota to build new dunes at Lido Beach, work on roundabout project in upcoming year

The city of Sarasota is planning dozens of capital improvement projects for the coming year, ranging from building dunes on Lido Beach to reconstructing city streets.

These projects are part of Sarasota’s 2022-23 budget, which the City Commission unanimously approved last Monday. The budget is nearly $252 million, an 8% increase over the current year’s spending plan.

Commissioners also approved a general operating property tax rate of 3 mills, down from the current rate of 3.1372 mills. One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value.

Background: City of Sarasota OKs $252 million budget, plans to expand its workforce

Last year: City of Sarasota passes $233 million budget, which is 0.48% lower than the fiscal year 2020-21

The capital improvement projects in for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 are expected to total about $47.2 million. The projects will be funded through the current penny sales tax, the fuel tax, state grants and other funding sources.

The city’s projects involve environmental preservation and sustainability, neighborhoods, parks and recreation, the wastewater system and several other areas. Some examples of projects are provided below.

Beach dunes

Among the environmental projects the city will be working on in building new dunes on Lido Beach. The project is currently in the design phase, and construction is anticipated to begin in early 2023.

“The primary goal of the project is to buffer potential flooding impacts to Benjamin Franklin Drive and upland private property by increasing the level of storm and erosion protection,” a summary of the project reads.

The city will spend $1.7 million on the project during the fiscal year, $1 million of which will come from Sarasota County’s tourism development tax and $700,000 of which will come from a state grant.

Pedestrian changes

Sarasota is also planning to work on its Smart City Initiative, a project that will be implemented over several years. The city is working on the first phase of the project, which will involve the installation of technology at intersections that detects pedestrian movement, according to Doug Jeffcoat, the city's public works director. Pedestrians won’t need to press a button at the intersection, as the system will see that they are there.

City staff are waiting for equipment from the Florida Department of Transportation, which they will then install. The Smart City Initiative’s funding will come from the penny sales tax ($1.59 million) and potentially a state grant ($4 million) that the city is applying for. Though the state is distributing the grant money, it originally comes from the federal infrastructure bill that Congress passed in 2021.

A new roundabout

The city of Sarasota is planning to create a roundabout at the intersection of Ringling Boulevard and Pine Place. The city is expecting to spend $1.3 million on the project in FY 2022-23, which will come from FDOT.

The project is in the design stages, and Jeffcoat estimates that construction will start later in the fiscal year.

Water and sewer improvements

Sarasota is a few years into an 11-year plan to renew or replace its aging sewer and water infrastructure. As part of that plan, the city is going to do $11.9 million of work on its wastewater system and $5.6 million of investment into is drinking water system in the upcoming year.

It is also budgeting $586,000 for water and sewer administration, which includes the replacement of a tractor and trucks.

Anne Snabes covers city and county government for the Herald-Tribune. You can contact her at asnabes@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @a_snabes.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota to build new dunes at Lido Beach, work on roundabout project