SARASOTA COUNTY — Federal, state and local officials announced Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is considering a Sarasota County proposal to install a permanent diesel generator at the Englewood Sports Complex Recovery Center, a site critical to post storm operations.
The project is under review through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which funds efforts that strengthen community resilience. The review includes required evaluations under the National Environmental Policy Act to weigh environmental, social, economic and safety impacts. Executive Order 11988 and Executive Order 11990 also require FEMA to consider how the work may affect local floodplains or wetlands.
County officials say the Englewood Sports Complex has repeatedly served as a post disaster recovery hub, supporting the Englewood Fire Department, staging crews for Florida Power and Light and sheltering up to 18 emergency personnel during major storm events. The facility currently operates without a backup power system.
The proposal calls for buying and installing a 200 kilowatt diesel generator, or a size determined by vendor and engineering review. The project includes a concrete pad, an automatic transfer switch, a sub base fuel tank and all required electrical work. The county says a reliable standby power source is needed to keep emergency operations running during outages.
Two alternatives were examined. The first, taking no action, would leave the center without backup power, limiting its ability to support emergency response and community needs after storms. The second, constructing a new facility, was determined to be too costly and too time consuming to be feasible.
Comment period
Comments are being accepted from the public, government agencies and other interested parties to help evaluate the potential impacts of the project. Written comments should be sent to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Bureau of Mitigation, 2555 Shumard Oak Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100, and are due by December 25, 2025. The state will forward comments to applicable regulatory agencies as needed.
Anyone interested in submitting comments, obtaining more detailed information about the proposed action or requesting a copy of the findings may contact Wendi Crisp, Pre-Award Services, Sarasota County, at 941-861-5000 or by email at grants@scgov.net
Funding will depend on compliance with federal, tribal, state and local laws, regulations, floodplain standards and permitting requirements.
