MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — Madeira Beach city commissioners approved a $1.5 million contract on Wednesday for a long delayed project to dredge all the sand that has been choking John’s Pass for years and has created lethal swimming conditions.

What You Need To Know

Madeira Beach city commissioners approved a $1.5 million contract on Wednesday

Bayside Dredging will remove up to 12,900 cubic yards of sand from John’s Pass

The sand buildup became a public problem in 2020 

Public Works hopes to start the dredge project in January

“It has just been an ongoing battle,” said Capt. Dylan Hubbard, owner of Hubbard’s Marina. “I’m just so excited to see the finish line.”

Hubbard’s dock is located right next to the sand accretion area and has become ground zero in an effort to keep boats afloat.

“If our dock wasn’t here, this sand would have already closed John’s Pass Boardwalk,” said Hubbard. “We battle this sand day in, day out, week in, week out. We spend countless hours, countless dollars to try to hold this sand back.” 

Dr. Ping Wang, with the Coastal Research Laboratory at the University of South Florida, studied the problem in 2021 for the city and found the sand deposit was primarily caused by natural currents which transport sand into the inlet. Dr. Wang also concluded minor contributing factors were from Pinellas County beach renourishment projects and the John’s Pass bridge.

Former Madeira Beach Mayor John Hendricks first warned the public about the sand buildup problem in 2020, along with the danger of a more narrow channel with a faster moving current poised to swimmers. It has since become the number one spot for water rescues in the county, according to Madeira Beach Fire Chief Clint Belk. Swimmer Ritvik Dammoju, 21, drowned in 2022, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

“People continue to think that this is a swimmable beach and it’s not,” said Hubbard. “It’s in a navigable federal channel with an extreme tidal flow. No one should be playing on the beach.”

State Rep. Linda Chaney presented the city commission with a $1.5 million state grant to pay for the sand to be dredged in 2022. The project requires permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Pinellas County.

In more than three years, the project never got underway. In the meantime, the city was forced to ask the state for an extension to the grant, which was approved.

In August, Mayor Anne-Marie Brooks said the project had been delayed due to mismanagement from City Manager Robin Gomez, who resigned a few weeks later. Gomez blamed the long delay on the permitting process.

About two weeks ago, the project appeared to be back on track, when city commissioners approved paying Bayside Dredging nearly $1.3 million to remove 12,900 cubic yards of sand from John’s Pass. Public Works Director Megan Wepfer said the remaining grant money will go towards design costs.

Wepfer said a big reason the dredge project will remain within budget is because the city has decided to use the sand to elevate recently purchased waterfront property, instead of paying to dispose of it.

“The cost of that disposal was going to be nearly $1 million,” she said. “So when we purchased the new property, we then came up with the idea to put an alternate modification to the bid, to put the sand on that property and use it as fill material.”

Wepfer said the city is currently waiting for a modification to the Army Corps permit to be approved and for a permit from Pinellas County. Public Works hopes to start the project in January but needs a nearby Pinellas County beach renourishment dredge project to wrap up first.

“Good job because this has taken forever through no fault of yours,” said Mayor Anne-Marie Brooks. “I’m happy to see it coming to an end.”

Madeira Beach should expect to dredge John’s Pass every 10 to 15 years, according to Dr. Wang.