Sarasota County has reallocated $10 million of stormwater funds to focus on Phillippi Creek drainage improvements, amid a delay of a major flood mitigation project and a hurricane season well underway.
County Commission Chairman Joe Neunder referred to the funding shift the board approved at its July 8 meeting as “triaging” stormwater funds – reallocating priorities as hurricane season nears its peak in August and September.
A memo from Spencer Anderson, director of the county’s Public Works department, noted that the 2024 hurricane season exacerbated “existing vulnerabilities in Sarasota County’s stormwater infrastructure.”
Commissioner Mark Smith asked if the dredging of Phillippi Creek could be impeded by the funding change; Anderson responded it would not. The director later clarified to the Herald-Tribune that the $10 million “is intended to be used for the Phillippi Creek dredging projects and other needed stormwater major repair, rehabilitation and replacement work.”
Anderson told the commission several projects would be delayed as a result of the shift, including work on Dona Bay, the annual Stormwater Repair and Rehabilition Project, some minor flood mitigation projects along the Legacy Trail, and the Phillippi Creek Dam Removal.
The move comes after federal officials did not approve a comprehensive dredging project for Phillippi Creek, which many residents and local officials worry is more susceptible to flooding after damage sustained in 2024.
Sarasota County administrator lauds new stormwater department leader
The reallocation also came the day after the county announced it had hired Ben Quartermaine to run its new Stormwater Department.
The county administrator told commissioners that he had eyed the incoming director for about six months for another senior county staff position, so Quartermaine, 53, was already on his radar when he applied for the job on the day it opened, July 1.
The next day he met with County Administrator Jonathan Lewis about the job. The day after that he accepted an offer from the county to run the new department.
In a statement issued July 8, Quartermaine said he was excited to return to public work.
“Having worked for the county in the past, I will start knowing much of what needs to be done to enhance stormwater in our community,” the incoming director said.
Quartermaine’s county salary will be $190,008.
Quartermaine graduated from the University of Central Florida in 1995. Three years later, he began his first of two stints with Sarasota County stormwater operations; the first ended in 2004 and the second was from 2013 to 2018. He left the county as an Engineering & Operations Manager.
As a senior project manager at engineering firm Stantec since then, Quartermaine oversaw stormwater engineering and watershed management. He was involved in a consulting project for the city of Venice that led to changes in the city’s stormwater assessment fees, which led to “more city revenue,” according to the project report.
Lewis later told reporters there were six applicants for the job, but Quartermain was the only one he interviewed.
The county is still going through budgeting for the 2026 fiscal year that begins Sept. 1, so Lewis said it will take months until the Stormwater Department is officially on the books.
The commission decided to split the Public Works Department into two – one for transportation and another for stormwater – amid public outcry over its handling of Hurricane Debby’s flooding.
Christian Casale covers local government for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Email him at ccasale@gannett.com or christiancasale@protonmail.com
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County reallocates $10 million in stormwater funding as new department created
Reporting by Christian Casale, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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