Council Agrees On Staff Recommended Legislative Grant Priorities

Each year City Council has discussed key priorities that have been strategized with the City’s Tallahassee lobbyist prior to their presentation in front of the State Legislative Delegation for their support. This year staff came forward with four separate such proposals.

Assistant City Manager Casey Lucius made the presentation to the Council in the waning hours of the Monday, August 21st meeting regarding four priority projects they were proposing to bring forward during the next legislative session.

The first proposal involves a ten-year project for the exfiltration of the island-wide swale system to improve water quality throughout the island. This would involve installing a French Drain System to convey surface waters that will infiltrate down through the soil into an engineered drain system, providing separation of undesired materials and other matter as the stormwater is directed to existing outfalls throughout the island. This is part of the efforts to improve our water quality as proposed to FDEP. Presently there are 120 miles of swales, and the program will involve doing approximately 10 miles annually over a ten-year program. The estimated cost would be $1,000,000 per year, and the city would be requesting a recurring grant of $500,000 annually.

The second request involved a median modification program that would flatten the island’s medians to eliminate the “runoff” created by the median reuse water irrigation. The runoff then goes into the city’s stormwater system, depositing unwanted materials into the island’s canals and waterways that contribute to pollution. The median flattening will also enhance turning movements, improving 

vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian safety throughout some of these heavily traveled roadways. This project would have a one-time cost of $1,000,000, and the city would be bearing a cost-sharing of $500,000 for this project.

The third request involved the costs for the design phase of the residential sanitary wastewater collection system for the Isle of Capri. Presently the majority of the single-family homes on the Isle of Capri are on individual septic systems with minimal filtering capability. The city is requesting an estimated $900,000 costs for the design phase of that project.

The final request was $375,000 to assist with the purchase and replacement of the city’s Fire/Rescue Boat which services an area well beyond that of the normal city boundaries. 

The Collier County Legislative Delegation will meet on September 11 to hear from the city’s representatives regarding their requests.