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Agenda Item: 12(b) |
Prepared By: Justin Martin, P.E., Director |
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Business: City Council Item |
Department: Public Works |
Subject:
Title
Update on the 2025 Completion of the Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island Restoration Project and Request for Storm Restoration Costs from Tourist Tax Revenue via Collier County - Justin Martin, P.E., Director, Public Works
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BACKGROUND:
The Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island Ecosystem Restoration is a City of Marco Island project designed to restore and protect a valuable ecosystem, which includes recreational assets and tourist attractions. The project in its entirety is located on public beach and wetland areas designated as Critical Wildlife Area by the State of Florida and can only be accessed by land through Collier County Tigertail Beach Park at the south part of the system. The project is in the public interest providing environmental, social and economic benefits, and storm protection.
The Tigertail Lagoon and Sand Dollar Island ecosystem is a protected natural preserve and a Critical Wildlife Area that provides valuable habitat for a variety of birds, sea turtles, manatees, marine life, and seagrasses. Tigertail Lagoon and Sand Dollar Island are also valuable Marco Island recreational resources for residents and tourists for birding, fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, kitesurfing, and, on the northern half, boating. The public accesses the ecosystem via Collier County’s Tigertail Beach Park at the southern end of the lagoon and via boat at the northern end of the lagoon. Tigertail Beach is one of 510 points on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail and is considered one of the best all-around birding spots in southwest Florida. Reader’s Digest named this area as one of the “15 Best Beaches in Florida Locals Want to Keep Secret” and the only one in Collier County. The County Park is one of only three public beach access points on Marco Island and receives over 200,000 visitors annually. It has a relatively large public parking area and playground, and work is underway to restart food service and watercraft rental. A shuttle bus runs from some hotels to the park. An increasing number of private, rental, and commercial tourist boats access the lagoon from its northern entrance. The Tigertail Lagoon and Sand Dollar Island system was impacted by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and was evolving toward closure by landward movement at a rate of 40-50 feet per year when it was further impacted by Hurricane Ian in September, 2022.
The City of Marco Island, through the Hideaway Beach Tax District, received 15- year state and federal permits for Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island restoration in 2022. The City, through the Hideaway Beach Tax District, and Collier County, through tourist development taxes, funded the initial restoration project in 2022-2023. It included restoration of the collapsing part of Sand Dollar Island and lagoon with approximately 500,000 cubic yards of sand sourced from shoaling areas within the system and authorized nearshore sand borrow areas. The project also restored wetland areas and tidal flow to the south part of Tigertail Lagoon, improving water quality and maintaining environmental habitats and recreational benefits. The City of Marco Island, through the Hideaway Beach Tax District, continues to conduct all necessary biological and physical monitoring required for permit compliance and to plan required maintenance activities.
In spring, 2024, the City of Marco Island reached agreement with the Collier County Tourist Development Council and Board of Couty Commissioners on a shared management plan for the northwest portion of Marco Island. There were several elements in this plan as outlined in the City Council presentation. As part of this management plan, the City, through the Hideaway Beach Tax District, and the County would work together to perform the biennial pre-planned maintenance for the Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island area. The Hideaway Beach Tax District would manage the overall project and fund all state and federal permit management and compliance activities, while the County, through tourist development dollars, would fund the biennial maintenance to recycle sand from the authorized sand trap at the tip of Sand Dollar Island and place the sand to restore vulnerable areas of the beach berm. The limited sand recycling to maintain the integrity of the beach berm was planned for approximately 40,000 cubic yards at a 2-year cycle using mechanical equipment and completed outside of bird and sea turtle nesting seasons. The County agreed to reimburse the City and the Hideaway Beach Tax District from tourist development taxes for up to $350,000, consisting of $300,000 in sand recycling and beach grading and $50,000 in engineering and environmental support services. This maintenance is part of the work that began in late November, 2024 and is being completed this month by Earth Tech Enterprises, an approved Collier County vendor.
In the summer of 2024, Marco Island was hit by an unprecedented series of named tropical storm events, tropical storm Debby, hurricane Helene, and hurricane Milton. These storms caused tens of millions of dollars of damage to the Collier County shoreline. Here on Marco Island, a large breach formed in the Sand Dollar spit. South of the breach, the spit collapsed on the mangrove shoreline, effectively closing off tidal flow to the southern portion of Tigertail Lagoon by the County Park and causing significant mangrove damage on the inner shoreline. Without maintenance in this area, the beautiful two-mile Sand Dollar spit, the scenic lagoon, and associated natural resources will be gone. The southern lagoon will be a landlocked pond, the Sand Dollar spit will no longer exist and its remains will be an island that will erode and diminish over time. The inner shoreline will erode and the entire Tigertail area of Marco Island will be increasingly vulnerable to storm surge and damage without the multi-tier protection of the Sand Dollar spit, the lagoon, and the mangrove shoreline.
The City of Marco Island, through the Hideaway Beach Tax District, the City’s state and federal permits that allow maintenance of the Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island area, and the State of Florida’s emergency order for Hurricanes Milton and Helene, took action to restore last summer’s hurricane damage. As Earth Tech Enterprises was already planned to be on site, they were given additional tasks on a time and materials basis to complete the hurricane restoration work. To date, the Hideaway Beach Tax District and the City Council have approved $297,255 in Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island hurricane restoration work by Earth Tech Enterprises and today’s agenda requests your approval for an additional 15 days of work at a cost of $255,000 from the Hideaway Beach Tax District to bring the restoration to completion. As has been the case from the start of the project, Marco Island taxpayers are not impacted unless they own property in Hideaway Beach.
Ongoing beach restoration is a critical and necessary program for all coastal communities and barrier islands such as Marco Island. Due to the unique design of the Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island restoration project, the contractor is able to recycle sand from the growing northern tip of Sand Dollar Island and reuse the sand that was over washed into the lagoon, all by mechanical means. The largest costs of beach restoration are hydraulic dredge mobilization and offsite sand acquisition. As this restoration did not require these costly items, it is being done at an approximate cost of $5 per cubic yard versus $100+ per cubic yard elsewhere in Collier County and in coastal counties north of Marco Island. Examples of post 2024 hurricane restoration in southwest Florida include Bonita Beach and Lover’s Key (Lee County) for $42M, Fort Myers Beach (Lee County) for $52M, Stump Pass (Charlotte County) for $7.2M, and Manasota Key (Charlotte County) for $51M. By comparison, the total cost of the Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island hurricane restoration is $575,073 ($552,255 in construction costs and $22,818 in professional services.).
Staff is hereby requesting a vote from City Council to proceed with requesting reimbursement of the Tigertail Lagoon/Sand Dollar Island hurricane restoration expenses incurred by the Hideaway Beach Tax District via the City in the amount $575,073 from Collier County tourist development taxes via the Collier County Tourist Development Council.
FUNDING SOURCE / FISCAL IMPACT: N/A
RECOMMENDATION: Vote to authorize city staff to request reimbursement for storm restoration costs from Collier County tourist tax revenue in the amount $575,073 via the Collier County Tourist Development Council (TDC).
POTENTIAL MOTION: “I hereby move to authorize city staff to request reimbursement for storm restoration costs from Collier County tourist tax revenue in the amount $575,073 via the Collier County Tourist Development Council (TDC).”