BRADENTON BEACH – As part of Manatee County’s ongoing sewer line replacement project, the Woodruff & Sons construction crew has been working on and near 12th Street South.
On Aug. 16, 12th Street South remained closed to vehicular traffic and the Gulf Drive South traffic lanes, near the S-curve, have been shifted slightly to accommodate the work taking place.
The Gulf Drive South traffic lanes near the S-curve in Bradenton Beach have been shifted slightly to accommodate the work taking place. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Manatee County Public Works Director provided a project update during the Aug. 1 Council of Governments meeting.
Butzow said the main gravity sewer line has been installed parallel to and west of Gulf Drive South and that portion of the project is completed. Lateral connection lines are being installed down the center of each connecting side street, from 12th Street South to 6th Street South resulting in those side streets being temporarily closed to vehicular traffic one street at a time. Butzow said there will not be any instances where two side streets are closed at the same time. The project-related street closures will impact residents, vacationers and property owners as that work progresses from street to street in the coming weeks and months.
For those unable to access their side streets via automobile, the county is providing a free shuttle service between the designated Gulf Drive South parking areas and the impacted side streets. For more information on the shuttle service, please call 941-269-6699.
The county is providing free shuttle service for residents, visitors and property owners impacted by the street closures. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Each lateral connection line also requires cutting through the Gulf Drive South pavement so the lateral can be connected to the main line and put into service.
“We’ve learned a lot. Our public outreach consultant has done a very good job,” Butzow said of the regular project updates consultant Tina Allen provides. “It is very timely and has been well-received.”
The connecting side streets will be closed one street at a time in the coming weeks and months. – Manatee County | Submitted
Dated July 28, Allen’s latest update noted the lateral connection line had been installed down the center of 11th Street South and work on 12th Street South was beginning that day. The work done on 11th Street South completed phase one of the two-phase project.
“On Thursday, July 27, 2023, the contractor began installing a new gravity sewer pipe across Gulf Drive South to the east side of Gulf Drive South at 12th Street South. To accommodate pipe installation, traffic lane shifts will remain in place through late August 2023 for the northbound and southbound travel lanes of Gulf Drive South. 12th Street South will remain closed to traffic through mid-fall 2023 as the contractor installs a new gravity sewer pipeline. A reserved parking area has been provided along the west side of Gulf Drive South for use by residents and renters impacted by the 12th Street South construction,” according to the update that was emailed to subscribers and also posted on the project website.
The county project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2024.
BRADENTON BEACH – The main components of Manatee County’s drainage improvement project at Coquina Beach are complete.
What remains are the completion of the second unpaved overflow parking area, the installation of an irrigation system and the planting of new trees that will replace the Australian pine trees previously removed.
Manatee County Public Works Director Chad Butzow provided city and county officials with a project update during the Aug. 1 Council of Governments meeting in Palmetto.
“Short of planting trees, we’re finally done,” Butzow said of the two-phase drainage improvement project that began at the south end of the Coquina Beach parking lot in mid-2019.
The drainage improvement project included paving the previously unpaved parking areas using pervious concrete that allows rainwater to drain downward through it and into the new drainage system below.
The pervious concrete in the Coquina Beach parking lot allows rainwater to drain downward through it. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“It was a drainage project. The parking lot just happens to be the drainage system for that,” Butzow said in reference to some people referring to the project as a parking project.
“Within that project, we even added some overflow parking with our geo-web system in the former overflow grass area. Even if it’s a heavy rain, you’ll be stable in there. You won’t be parking in mud. That area will only be open when it’s needed,” Butzow said.
The Coquina Beach parking lot now includes this overflow parking area that can be opened as needed. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The first gated, unpaved overflow parking lot is finished and located north of the picnic pavilions. The second unpaved overflow parking area still under construction is located just north of the first overflow parking area.
The drainage project and parking improvements resulted in the somewhat controversial removal of approximately 200 Australian pine trees.
“I will point out to some of the naysayers, there’s a lot of trees left,” Butzow said.
Butzow referenced the one-for-one tree replacement required by the city as part of the its initial permitting approval for the county’s drainage improvement project. The Bradenton Beach City Commission stipulated each non-native Australian pine tree removed must later be replaced with a new, native Florida tree.
“One tree down, one tree in,” Butzow said, noting he expected the tree plantings to take place within 30 to 45 days.
The drainage project and parking improvements required the removal of many Australian pines but many Australian pines were left standing. Joe Hendricks | Sun
Butzow said it’s hard to determine whether the mostly completed project created more or fewer beach parking spaces, but there’s an upside either way.
“You get a lot more organized parking is the overall consensus. We’re very thrilled with how it looks and how it feels overall,” he said of the project as a whole.
After a recent rain, standing rainwater pooled in the cul-de-sac near the center of the parking lot. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
According to Manatee County Information Outreach Manager Bill Logan, the revamped Coquina Beach parking lot, including the two overflow parking areas, will provide 1,042 parking spaces.
Rainwater recently accumulated atop the pervious concrete near the unpaved overflow parking areas. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
On the morning of Aug. 16, The Sun visited the Coquina Beach parking lot. Even after a recent rain, most of the parking lot surfaces were dry and free of standing water. But there was some rainwater pooled a few inches deep in the lower-lying paved areas near the cul-de-sac and overflow parking areas toward the center of the parking lot.
Work continues on the second overflow parking area that will also include new tree plantings. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
When contacted later that day, Logan said, “Regarding drainage, the playground area holds stormwater that falls on it. When it is full, it backs into the pervious parking area at the phase 1 cul-de-sac. It will slowly drain into the drainage system over a couple of days.
“All of the standard parking areas are complete and open to traffic,” he said. “The unfinished area is the second overflow parking lot and tree mitigation area. Irrigation is currently being installed so crews can plant the 80 some-odd trees in the former green space that occupied this area. Once the trees are in, staff will hydroseed the remaining space to get grass growing.”
This project map illustrates the phases and sub-phases of the multi-year drainage project. – Manatee County | Submitted
BRADENTON – Manatee County commissioners have approved removing 97 more Australian pines from the south Coquina Beach parking lot, bringing the total so far to 103, including six already removed earlier this month.
The approved phase one tree removals are part of the county’s two-phase Coquina Beach stormwater and drainage improvement project. The $3.1 million first phase plan includes paving all the unpaved access roads and parking areas in the south parking lots with pervious concrete, which will allow rainwater to drain through it and into an underground filtration system that discharges into Sarasota Bay and/or Longboat Pass.
The project also includes the construction of a Florida Department of Transportation-funded sidewalk along the west side of Gulf Drive.
These Australian pines along the south access road are among the 103 to be removed. Up to 129 more are being considered for removal. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Commissioners Vanessa Baugh, Steve Jonsson and Misty Servia supported Commissioner Priscilla Trace’s motion to remove the trees at the Tuesday, June 18 commission meeting. At-large commissioners Betsy Benac and Carol Whitmore opposed the decision. Commissioner Reggie Bellamy was not present.
The adopted motion approves the removal of all 103 non-native Australian pines slated for removal in phase one and calls for their replacement with another unspecified type of tree. At Servia’s request, the amended motion includes a request for the creation of a landscaping plan as soon as possible.
The fates of approximately 130 more Australian pines slated for removal in phase two have not yet been determined. The adopted motion calls for the commission to reevaluate the phase two plans to determine if the project is extended to the center and northern parking lots, and if so, how many more trees will be removed.
Commissioner Priscilla Trace made the motion adopted by the commission majority. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
When making her motion, Trace said she doubted the commission would approve phase two.
The commission chose not to pursue an alternative plan that would have saved approximately 50 trees scheduled for phase one removal.
Commission comments
Whitmore, the commission’s only Island resident, made a motion to terminate the project. Her motion died without a second from another commissioner.
“Please listen to our community’s pleas – from the Island all the way out to Lakewood Ranch – to not change the character of our beaches,” Whitmore said.
County Commissioner and Holmes Beach resident Carol Whitmore tried to stop the project and save the trees. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The meeting packet included 1,010 petition signatures that local Realtor Mike Norman and others collected in an attempt to save the trees.
“We did not know about the trees. It was never mentioned,” Whitmore said. “I respectfully ask that you find out from our legal counsel what it’s going to cost to cancel this contract.”
Benac then said, “I remember the workshop when we talked about pervious pavement. I honestly don’t remember voting to go forward with the project. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen a site plan that shows what’s happening at this site.
“Are we paving the whole thing? It’s not just about the trees. I’m concerned we’re going to have real pushback from people that are going to be horrified by us creating a Siesta Key-type parking lot,” Benac said.
County Commissioner Betsy Benac cast one of the two votes opposing the tree removals. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“Yes, we’re proposing to pave every bit of parking area over time,” Butzow confirmed.
“If I had my way, I’d get rid of all the Australian pines,” Trace said, noting the commission approved an unrelated $300,000 three-year expenditure for exotic plant removals earlier that day.
“I don’t think we’re really changing the feel for that beach. I think they need to go, and we need to replant them with better shade trees,” Jonsson said.
Staff input
Newly-confirmed Public Works Director Chad Butzow, Project Manager Michael Sturm and Parks and Grounds Division Manager Carmine DeMilio explained the project in detail before the commissioners voted.
Public Works Director Chad Butzow addresses county commissioners, with Project Manager Michael Sturm joining him at the podium. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“This is a stormwater drainage project that happens to include a parking lot because the drainage system is the parking lot,” Butzow said of the pervious concrete.
DeMilio said the project will address flooding issues that sometimes cause the parking lots to be closed.
The county spends $30,000 annually grading the unpaved surfaces to alleviate potholes, he said, adding that county staff spends significant time picking up fallen branches. He shared a photo of an Australian pine branch that recently landed on a parked vehicle.
Sturm said a certified arborist recommended the tree removals because the excavation for the paving would damage the trees’ shallow root systems. Sturm said raising the surfaces to be paved was discussed, but the arborist said burying the roots under 10 inches of topsoil would kill the pines.
Sturm said the arborist recently proposed an alternative that could save approximately 50 phase one pines designated for removal.
“He said I probably should have told you this in the beginning. What we can do is trim some roots and prune the tops so they’re not susceptible to the wind. It’ll take them about a year to recover, but in that time the roots will grow back and the trees will re-foliate, ” Sturm said.
“We were ill-prepared and we were well into the project when we discovered the trees were in harm’s way.” – Chad Butzow, Manatee County Public Works Director
Butzow said staff did not recommend the pruning option, but it could be done. The commission took no action on that option.
Butzow said the phase two plans call for the removal of 126 to 129 additional Australian pines, which would leave 76 percent of the existing pines still standing.
“Nothing’s being touched that is water-side of the walking trail,” Butzow said.
Sturm said phase two design revisions could save 80-90 percent of those trees: “It will take a little more work, but we can save the trees if that’s what you want to do.”
Butzow said the original plans only called for the removal of the 13 trees in direct conflict with the paving plans and that’s how the project was presented during a previous commission work session.
“We definitely missed on that one. We were ill-prepared and we were well into the project when we discovered the trees were in harm’s way,” Butzow admitted.
Butzow said the omission of a landscaping plan was also an error on his part.
Contact Manatee County commissioners by clicking on their names at the county website.
