TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — Bright and early on Sunday morning, volunteers got their hands dirty while braving the heat for a good cause.
“We’re just digging holes and doing the grunt work,” said volunteer Tod Hudson.
WATCH: Volunteers plant along ponds on Treasure Island to help shoreline, protect water
Volunteers were called to help plant native vegetation along ponds near Treasure Bay Golf and Tennis on Treasure Island to stabilize the shoreline, improve habitat, and protect the water.
“The retention ponds are really important to maintain with all the storms coming to Florida,” said Samantha Stauffer, a Senior Coordinator at Sea and Shoreline. “They offer a lot of protection to the community and the surrounding areas.”
“A lot of it is for erosion control for along the edge of the ponds here,” said JP Agrall, the Special Projects Manager with the City of Treasure Island.
Agrall explained what problems could come up if the plants weren’t there.
“Especially getting into our rainy season right now, we’re going to see a lot of the soil just kind of wash right back into the pond, and after dredging it, it kind of takes back from what we were doing,” said Agrall. “It’s going to shove all that dirt right back in the pond. Then, your pond levels get real shallow, fish can’t grow into it, you’ll start collecting a lot of algae, no birds are going to want to be here.”
The project over the weekend comes as this community itself continues to rebound.
“Obviously, we were all devastated with the storms last year,” said Hudson. “I live down the street, and I had 40 inches of water in my house, so everybody’s working.”
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
