PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – For years, Captain Dylan Hubbard has been dealing with a serious issue surrounding Hubbard’s Marina in John’s Pass: sand.

Hubbard says the problem has gotten worse since the Florida Department of Transportation installed a new bridge in 2010 which changed the flow and is now depositing sand near where the boats dock.

Hubbard has documented the sand migration going as far as contacting city, county and state officials and he claims no one wants to take ownership of the issue.

“October 11th, that was the sand all the way up underneath the boat… and this is the boat that’s sitting out there right now,” Hubbard said. “And that’s why this project and this problem has been persistent for so many years.”

So Hubbard has a new plan. He’s visited every business on the John’s Pass Boardwalk, providing the owners with email addresses of the decision-makers who have the ability to fix the problem. He’s hoping a united front will finally net results.

Mary Matthews who owns Gray Jewelers on the second floor of the boardwalk is also hopeful. Her concern isn’t the loss of business, rather ecological and safety concerns. With more sand in the pass, the currents are much stronger, depending on the tides.

“There are little children out there at waters edge, they are blindly not realizing the danger of the tides,” said Matthews. “And I’ve actually seen a couple of little kids have to be brought back on jet ski’s who happened to be out there when the kids were swimming and swept out.”