$500K dredging project to produce longer fix at Clam Pass

NAPLES, Fla. – Collier County is dishing out additional funds to complete a dredging project that began on Clam Pass three years ago.

The initial work to the pass cost the county $250,000 in tourist taxes, but now officials say they are finishing the work.

“The emergency work we did only opened the front end of the pass. It wasn’t an entire project,” Tim Hall, a senior ecologist at Turrell, Hall & Association, said.

Now Collier County is spending about $500,000 to dredge Clam Pass. But authorities said the money is needed to preserve the pass.

Without the 300-acres mangrove preserve, Clam Bay could die, creating a disaster for neighboring buildings because the mangroves keep the soil intact.

“It isn’t just the beauty. It isn’t just the enjoyment of the park these mangroves have a purpose,” Collier County Commissioner Georgia Hiller said.

Losing the pass could also hurt tourism. More than 230,000 people visited Clam Pass in 2015. The nearby Naples Grande Hotel made a profit of $1.2 million in tourist tax money for the county running the tram and amenities at the beach.

The hope is the effects of dredging will last five years, but there is no guarantee.