Pinellas allocates $130.7 million for beach renourishment

After waiting until the last minute for the federal government to provide some relief, Pinellas County has dedicated $130.7 million to repair critically eroded beaches.

County commissioners somberly approved the massive appropriation Tuesday. Local legislators were unable to effectuate changes to stringent federal easement requirements, despite previous optimism.

The commission subsequently awarded $125.7 million to Weeks Marine Inc., the only responsive and responsible bidder. The New Jersey-based contractor will renourish and build dunes on portions of Sand Key, Treasure Island and Long Key.

“We fought and tried, I think, everything to make the federal government do what the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers is designed to do, which is to protect infrastructure,” said County Administrator Barry Burton. “They’re not there to give us a beach – they’re there to do nourishment to protect the infrastructure that exists, and we have not been able to see a change.”

While many beachfront property owners have yet to sign less-restrictive county construction easements, officials must complete the projects before peak hurricane season. When asked if she felt comfortable with the level of protection they could provide, Kelli Hammer Levy, public works director, said her department is “doing everything we can.”

In 2017, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began requiring all area property owners to sign 50-year easements before covering 65% of a project’s bill. Those documents allow public access to private property, and Burton noted that an entire section of coastline is ineligible for renourishment if one person refuses to participate.

Local, state and federal politicians have advocated for change, to no avail. Many thought a devastating 2024 hurricane season would bolster those efforts. They were wrong.

“They haven’t been able to do what’s necessary to get 100% easements and have the language revert back to the way they were doing it prior to 2017,” Burton said. “And without that change, we put ourselves at risk.”

Indian Rocks Beach in 1985, before renourishment efforts. Photo: Pinellas County Government.

Burton stressed that the allocation was a “one-time solution.” He said the county cannot afford to spend over $125 million on beach renourishments every six years.

Commissioner Kathleen Peters, who has led the local push to ease federal restrictions, said Palm Beach has encountered the same issues. “So, even Mar-a-Lago is going to be affected,” she said of the president’s Florida home.

Peters said area congressional representatives must call the president and request an executive order that waives the current stipulations. “I don’t see anything changing, and their process is still so bureaucratic that it’s going to take a year, regardless.”

The county created a less restrictive, temporary construction easement for the current projects. Officials launched a campaign to garner community support in February.

However, Levy noted that Pinellas lacks 136 signed easements on Sand Key, eight on Sunshine Beach and three on Upham Beach. Some property owners, like the Sand Dollar Condominiums on Indian Shores, refuse to participate “because they don’t want nourishment.”

The sand and dunes offer a barrier against storm surges. Pass-a-Grille, renourished in 2024, received significantly less damage from Hurricane Helene than other barrier islands.

Burton said the county allocated an additional $5 million in contingency funding. The project encompasses Sand Key (Clearwater Beach to Belleair Beach, and Indian Rocks Beach to North Redington Beach), Treasure Island and Upham Beach.

Properties without easements will see a higher beach from the erosion control (high-water) line west into the gulf. Commissioner Brian Scott previously compared working around inaccessible properties to carrying water in a bucket “with holes in it.”

“We are putting down over 2.5 million cubic yards of sand on all three segments total,” Levy said Tuesday. “I don’t think we’ve ever placed that much sand.”

The county will host three public meetings to share information on the upcoming projects and the ongoing impasse with the Corps of Engineers. Burton hopes additional property owners realize the difference between local and federal easement requirements and sign the documents.

“There’s an opportunity to build this right and give them a level of protection that I think most people want,” he said.

Levy noted officials would accept easements “right up to the last minute.” However, once Weeks Marine passes an area, “we’re not going back.”

For more information on the renourishment projects and easements, visit the website here.