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Canal Project Rooted In Silt

By YVETTE C. HAMMETT yhammett@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 8, 2008

RUSKIN - Boaters hemmed in by silted-up canals can learn what it might cost them to clear a path to Tampa Bay.

Hillsborough County engineers will host two more informational meetings on a coastal canal dredging ordinance, with the first scheduled for 6:30 p.m. today at Lennard High School in Ruskin. Another meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at Alonso High School in Tampa.

The engineers have come up with a plan property owners can use to set up and finance a coastal canal dredging program. They are recommending to the county commission that landowners split the cost among, based on how many linear feet of property they have on the waterfront.

The commission is expected to vote on the ordinance before year's end.

Property owners would have 10 or 20 years to pay for dredging projects.

According to one estimate from county engineers, the price for a property owner with 50 linear feet of waterfront on canals off the Alafia River could be $1,513.50 annually for 10 years.

In Apollo Beach South, the owner of the same size property would pay $164 annually for 10 years.

The cost to dredge 70 coastal canals in South Shore and northwest Hillsborough will be about $15.2 million.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Meeting on a coastal canal dredging ordinance

WHERE: Lennard High School, 2002 Shell Point Road, Ruskin
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. today

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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