Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tribune article on restoring the Apollo Beach Park Preserve:
Channel dredging, beach restoration to begin this summer
By LOIS KINDLE | The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 06, 2012 Updated: June 06, 2012 – 12:00 AM
APOLLO BEACH — Boaters in this waterfront community are tired of getting stuck on sandbars at low tide.
“People have to time their arrivals and departures to navigate the channels, said Len Berkstresser, president of the Apollo Beach Waterway Improvement Group. “The reason we buy property in Apollo Beach is to enjoy waterfront living, which includes several marinas, waterside dining, sailing and fishing. Without the ability to transit the channels, having a boat is useless.”
Due to a lack of tidal flow and low levels of storm-water runoff, silt has built up over the years in the three channels leading into Apollo Beach, causing the average low water level to drop to about 4 feet in spots at low tide and between 5 and 6 feet at high tide. Boats drafting more than 4 feet of water can have trouble getting in and out.
Help is on the way. Thanks to the efforts of Berkstresser and volunteers from the waterway improvement group, dredging of the main and south channels is expected to begin this summer. The main channel leads from Tampa Bay into Apollo Beach just south of Andalucia. Just past Andalucia, the south channel turns off the main channel and leads into MiraBay and Symphony Isles.
When the dredging is finished, each channel will be 7 feet deep and 60 feet wide.
“This means I won’t have to pull boats off the sandbars on my way in and out of the channel,” said Craig Beggins, a local businessman with a power boat. “If (the dredging) isn’t done, the problem will only get worse. Eventually, all boaters will be affected.
As a Realtor, Beggins said he discloses “right up front” the issues boaters face in the community.
“It’s a big detriment,” he said. “Fixing the problem will improve property values and attract more buyers to the community.”
The last time the channels were dredged was 17 years ago.
“About four or five years ago, we began having problems again,” Berkstresser said.
The waterway improvement group, commonly known as ABWIG, was chartered in 1993, two years before the community’s first dredging project. Members raised $65,000 to cover the costs for dredging all three channels.
After that effort, the group essentially became dormant until 2007, when some of ABWIG’s original members, led by Apollo Beach resident Jim Bothwell, resumed efforts to have the channels dredged again.
The first step was to obtain permitting, which took about three years. During the permitting process, Hillsborough County commissioned a study for the dredging that concluded it would cost between $500,000 and $750,000 to dredge the channels and haul off the spoils on trucks or a barge, Berkstresser said.
“ABWIG members saw this as an insurmountable obstacle, and for six to eight months the project went into mothballs,” Berkstresser said.
By early 2010, though, permits were in place. Bothwell and members of the Apollo Beach-based Tampa Sailing Squadron approached Berkstresser about taking over the effort.
Berkstresser immediately began looking for cost reductions, which included finding other dredge sites or selling dredge spoils as fill. Within three months, he formed a six-member board, which began promoting the project and raising funds to pay for it. ABWIG representatives worked community events such as the Manatee Arts Festival and signed up volunteers to build community awareness and collect money.
“Raising funds in these tough economic times has been difficult,” Berkstresser said.
Tampa Electric Company pitched in $50,000 of the total, and the Symphony Isles Homeowners Association, $35,000. Other large donors include the MiraBay Mariners Club, the residents of MiraBay, Andalucia Yacht Club, Lands End Marina, Circles and The Boulevard restaurants and Century 21 Beggins Enterprises. Caterpillar Inc. is providing a $10,000 in-kind donation for land preparation at the dredge site.
Area residents also helped when ABWIG members came calling door to door. That effort raised another $5,000.
“We’ve managed to collect $122,000 of the $150,000 needed to start the first phase of the project. I have every confidence we will get there,” Berkstresser said.
Once all the money is raised, bids will be taken and evaluated, the land will be prepped, and dredging will start, he said. The work will take several months.
The second phase involves dredging the north channel, re-establishing the beach area at Apollo Beach Nature Preserve with dredge spoils, building a jetty and installing large tower-like devices in the water that cut down on wave action, protect the channel from re-silting and keep the beach sand in place.
County Commissioner Sandy Murman brought together a coalition of six government agencies and private organizations to help plan and build the $500,000 project.
“ABWIG represents many residents in the Apollo Beach community who wanted their channels dredged and the Apollo Beach Park Preserve restored,” said Murman. “I pulled together county staff and other stakeholders, and we came up with a plan to solve the problem for the betterment of the community and to enhance the quality of life for these citizens.”
Restoring the beach was one of her top priorities because it increases the assets in the South County region, Murman said.
Resident and business owner Colin Howgill said he walks his dog at the nature park every morning and supports the project.
“Replenishing the beach is hugely, hugely overdue,” he said. “I’m glad to hear something is finally being done to stop the erosion process.”
Patti Greene is another supporter.
“I’m so excited to hear about the beach,” she said. “I’m looking forward to walking along the sand again, enjoying the morning and looking for sharks teeth like I used to. This is fabulous news.”
Due to area manatee migrations the project’s second phase will not start until summer of 2013, at the earliest.
For more information on ABWIG visit www.abwig.org.
