Steve Suau selected to guide management of Quads at Celery Fields

Steve Suau had served on the Stormwater Advisory Committee and then as Sarasota County Stormwater Director when the plan to manage floodwaters endangering homes on Phillippi Creek took form. 

Along with former Commissioner Jon Thaxton and a few others, Suau laid the groundwork for what has become a phenomenal asset: The Celery Fields Water Management Area, now home to the Audubon Nature Center, protects homes from high water, cleanses Phillippi Creek of nutrients, provides a much-loved recreation area, and has created wetlands and uplands offering habitat for hundreds of nesting and migrating bird species. (Story below from Sarasota Magazine.)

The Celery Fields (photo: Tom Matrullo)

The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast and Sarasota Audubon Society have announced the selection of the Quad Parcels Project owners’ representative: Steve Suau of Progressive Water Resources. As owners’ representative, Suau will assist both organizations in managing the project from beginning to end, which will improve wildlife habitat, buffer the Celery Fields from industrial use and I-75 to the west, and provide low-impact public access. The 33 acres will buffer the western edge of the environmentally sensitive Celery Fields, a nationally recognized birding hotspot that is a vital part of Sarasota County’s water quality and flood protection system for the Phillippi Creek watershed.

In October 2020, the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners approved a unique public-private partnership, which gifted a conservation easement on the northeast, southeast and southwest quads parcels to Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast—ensuring protection forever—and contracted with Sarasota Audubon Society to improve habitat and manage the properties. The draft design is expected to be announced in the next few months. The two nonprofits are fundraising for the project and anticipate a public campaign kickoff later this year. For more information, click here.

The "Quads":

The Quads Parcels - County Photo 

Fresh Start Update -- and, the interface between urban and rural

To all who have been following and participating in our Fresh Start Initiative, this article might be of interest. While it addresses considerations of the complex forces pressuring rural areas across the US, it happens to have been written by Randy Reid, a former Sarasota County Administrator, and by an urban planning educator at USF, Van Linkous. 

You might also be interested in a brief account of a long meeting between spokespeople for FPL and the communities of East Bee Ridge Road that took place yesterday. One option for a new power line would run down Palmer Boulevard from Porter to Apex, then turn north on Apex to Fruitville Road. From there it would go east toward Hi Hat Ranch.

Last week, our Fresh Start Advisory Board examined over 4o proposals and ideas shared by our communities for Parcels 1 and 2 of public lands near the Celery Fields. Another meeting  is set for later today. The goal is to soon have a list of proposals for each parcel that meet the criteria outlined in our vision statement:

• feasibility
• utility to neighbors (rather than large truck industrial uses that Palmer Blvd. and Apex Rd. cannot handle)
• compatibility with surroundings
• viability - economic and environmental enhancement

The selected proposals will go forward to a community roundtable workshop on April 10, at the Fruitville Library, beginning at 3 p.m. 

We hope to see you there on 4.10!

Best,

Tom Matrullo

For the Fresh Start Initiative Advisory Council

Glenna Blomquist, Carlos Correa, Marguerite Malone, Tom Matrullo, Gary Walsh