Longboat Key considering other options after FDEP rejects wet well lining project

The town is now proposing an $180,000 Bayfront Park shoreline study.

The town of Longboat Key proposed two environmental projects to the state to fulfill its consent order after the June 2020 sewage break.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection accepted the town’s plan to replace an existing 2006 backup generator at Master Lift Station D but rejected the town’s plan for a wet-well lining project.

“They said that it was routine maintenance,” Town Manager Tom Harmer said about the proposed wet well lining project. “They looked at it said, ‘Sure, it’s a good thing to do that, but you probably should do that anyway and therefore, we’re going to consider [it] routine maintenance.”

Harmer said the town considered appealing but instead, the town is now proposing a $180,000 partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to examine four styles of shoreline improvements using Bayfront Park as a test area pilot study. The town would contribute about $160,000 towards the project while the FWC and others would pay for the remaining $20,000.