Sarasota City Commission and Town of Longboat Key Commission Special Joint Meeting - October 7, 2026

On October 7, 2026, the City of Sarasota Commission and Town of Longboat Key Commission held a special joint meeting in the Town of Longboat Key Commission Chambers, 501 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:55 p.m. The agenda header lists a DATE of October 1, 2026, but the meeting notice and transcript identify the meeting date as October 7, 2026. No member of the public requested to speak. The boards reviewed Amendment 3 budget impacts, shared coastal resiliency and transportation projects, FDOT corridor work, water transit, and Longboat Key's subaqueous sewer force main replacement.

Amendment 3 Impacts

• Sarasota City Manager Carrie Friend presented estimated impacts of the proposed Florida Amendment 3 homestead exemption increase. She said the city's general fund receives about $59 million in annual tax revenue, with the police department consuming about 48% of the general fund, parks and recreation about 11% (slightly over $12.5 million), and all other smaller departments combined about 30%.
• About 42% of city properties are homestead properties, so they would bear the largest impact. Staff estimates the general fund impact at roughly $5.6 million per year once fully implemented after year two. Friend compared that to about 37 full-time police officer positions, 47 full-time staff positions, the entire annual streets and highway budget, or 1.5 times the engineering budget.
• Friend said the city is not advocating, only educating, and has been preparing through a hiring freeze on general fund positions, reviews of user fees and programs, and a three-legged stool approach of cutting expenditures, increasing revenues/fees, and improving efficiency.
• A commissioner noted that Florida League of Cities vote no Amendment 3 television advertisements aired in Sarasota the day before the meeting on ABC 7.

Coastal Resiliency and Transportation Projects

• Sarasota Public Works Director Nikesh Patel presented, and Longboat Key Public Works Director Charlie Mott also answered questions.
• New Pass dredging and sand sharing: A new interlocal agreement effective September 15, 2026, establishes a 10-year partnership with a cumulative 50-50 sand allocation between the city and town; with written consent, a project can place up to all available sand on one shoreline and later restore the balance. The 2025 inlet management plan, approved by FDEP, starts the accounting.
• Lido Beach renourishment and New Pass: Five years of sand accumulation of roughly 3 inches to 3 feet in New Pass had hindered navigation. After the Army Corps and city dredging, depths are about 5 to 9 feet. In 2026, about 300,000 cubic yards of sand restored about 1.2 miles of shoreline, supported by $12 million in federal funding. Dune restoration is separate and targeted for completion by the end of the year.
• Q&A on navigation: Mott said New Pass shoals around 70,000 cubic yards per year, the Coast Guard had considered pulling buoys, and Army Corps project representatives indicated markers would be re-established. Dredging did not go east of the bridge because of a TECO utility line conflict.
• St. Armand's resiliency and stormwater: The city described a county-managed stormwater project with $13.5 million from the Resilient SRQ disaster recovery program plus a $479,000 city contribution, plus a city-led undergrounding effort targeted for January 1, 2028, and a state-supported corridor project with $1.48 million in appropriations. County-managed stormwater funds must be expended by 2031; a consultant is being selected. The project targets rainfall flooding, not storm surge, though the consultant will evaluate related issues.
• Emergency flooding concerns: After recent flooding at St. Armand's, Sarasota and Longboat Key officials worked overnight with the county; the county manages stormwater, with the city and town supporting. Officials said Sarasota has proposed a deeper evaluation of the stormwater system with possible future city assumption, and the county created a stormwater department. A commissioner said flood warning signs reading may flood should be changed because flooding is recurring.
• Long-term design comments: Several commissioners expressed concern that $13.5 million may be only a band-aid and that residents need interim flood relief; city staff advised completing permitting and design properly rather than rushing, while noting rainfall intensity and sea-level rise make design standards difficult.
• 10th Street and Boulevard of the Arts: The city has $12 million in federal funding and a $3 million city match for a design-build project; the 10th Street concept would change four lanes to two lanes from Orange to U.S. 41 with bicycle and pedestrian improvements. It originated from Sarasota in Motion, is subject to traffic studies, public input, intergovernmental review, and commission approval. Boulevard of the Arts is planned as the Rosemary District's main street with wider sidewalks, street trees, sidewalk cafes, and shared lanes, based in part on a 2021 survey with over 1,000 responses.
• Advanced air mobility MOU: An airport-led regional memorandum of understanding is proposed with FDOT, the Sarasota-Manatee MPO, and local governments, covering possible air taxi, public service, cargo, and recreational aviation. Staff stressed the MOU is advisory, not an approval of service or facility. Target signature is before Thanksgiving, subject to partner review. In discussion, a commissioner noted Florida League of Cities will address stormwater policy the following day.
• Water transit: Sarasota's dock infrastructure construction is paused, with no restart date; conceptual dock sites include Bay Street, 10th Street, Ken Thompson Park, and Bayfront Park. Staff has completed conceptual 30% design for two dock locations, and dock infrastructure at Centennial Park and 10th Street is built. Longboat officials and staff discussed regional ferry coordination, first/last-mile connections, seagrass permitting and mitigation costs, environmental opposition, and the need for a cost-benefit and regional partnership approach.

FDOT Projects

• Current John Ringling Causeway work: From east of Sunset Drive to Bird Key; $12.3 million construction began January 2026, with completion targeted for early 2027. Work includes bicycle transit lanes, new signals, resurfacing, drainage improvements, and a raised seawall cap near Sunset Drive. Staff said it addresses repeated flooding at the Sunset and Bird Key intersections.
• Future bridge replacement: From Bird Key Drive to Sarasota Harbor West; $4 million design and an estimated $74 million construction. The tentative letting is 2028-2029, pending design. The proposed replacement is a single bridge with bicycle, pedestrian, and transit accommodations, coordinated with St. Armand's projects and addressing flooding at bridge approaches.

Town of Longboat Key Subaqueous Force Main

• Longboat Key Public Works Director Charlie Mott gave an update. The existing force main under Sarasota Bay or the Intracoastal Waterway was installed in 1970 and is ductile iron. The replacement would use high-density polyethylene pipe on a parallel route, allowing the old line to be relined or reused and providing extra storage capacity during storms.
• A June 2020 rupture was repaired in 30 hours, followed by a consent order and mitigation. DEP permit approval came in January 2022, an Army Corps nationwide permit in 2023, and slip lining was completed on the impacted segment. With construction manager at risk Garney, the project moved to the individual Army Corps/DEP permit process after it outgrew the nationwide permit in February 2026; the town is responding to agency requests for additional information, with Army Corps and DEP staff expediting review.
• Project cost is estimated at $30-40 million all-in, including seagrass and mangrove mitigation. Funding includes $3 million and $1.5 million federal appropriations, a $1 million Clean Water SRF grant, pre-purchased $4 million of pipe, and a zero-interest SRF loan portion with a debt-free/grant portion; remaining local funding is still needed.
• Next steps include finalizing FDEP and Army Corps permits, finalizing the guaranteed maximum price, maintaining grant periods of performance, seeking additional grants and appropriations, and completing any public borrowing. The existing force main remains in service and is largely relined. Mott also requested renewal of the city's emergency potable water interconnect with Sarasota; Manatee County provides routine wastewater treatment for Longboat Key.

Key Outcomes

• No formal motions or votes were recorded; the meeting was a discussion and information-sharing session.
• Both boards supported more regular joint conversation. Longboat Key staff proposed at least an annual joint meeting and offered to send staff to city meetings or workshops for follow-up on specific topics.
• Sarasota commissioners requested future information exchanges on St. Armand's undergrounding experience, Longboat Key's planned roundabout, construction staging lessons from the St. Regis project, and Longboat Key's prior study regarding county alignment.
• The water taxi agenda item was not separately presented because the city's earlier water transit discussion was considered to have covered it.
• The meeting adjourned at 2:55 p.m.