Navigation district offers ideas of future needs

BRADENTON -- The West Coast Inland Navigation district presented a picture of future needs to the County Commission at its workshop on Tuesday.

With the boat culture that exists in Southwest Florida, the district's projects tend toward the nautical, with talk of boat ramps and dredging dominating past projects and the current discussion.

The district, which comprises Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties, is funded through an ad valorem property tax at a current rate of .0394 mills. The portion of total funding used for administration and regional project participation for Manatee County in fiscal year 2008-09 was $141,482, and approximately $900,000 in net funding is available for county-requested projects.

Net ad valorem revenue for the entire district in fiscal 2009 is $6.8 million, of which $1.1 million came from Manatee County. The total carryover for the district is $9.6 million, of which $1.1 million Manatee County's share.

Possible uses listed for the county's WCIND money were:

• Flotillas and power squadrons: $8,000 is required to purchase items for vessels to assist boaters. Textbooks and equipment are also purchased for use in boater skills and general seamanship classes.
• GWIZ water workshop: $21,000 is required to provide water resource and local ecosystem education programs for Manatee County students.
• Civil Air Patrol: $10,500 is required to conduct flyovers of waterways in an effort to enhance search-and-rescue efforts. Air patrol also maintains radio contact with the Coast Guard.
• Lake La Vista Inlet Maintenance: $50,000 is required for maintenance dredging of an inlet channel under a small bridge. This annual dredging project creates sand for Bayfront Park.

Other project categories of the WCIND include navigation improvement (dredging projects), law enforcement, environmental education, boating and safety education, boating recreation and beach renourishment where impacted by navigation inlets, dredging or other navigation projects.