City of Sarasota adding $118,426 to project fund
On unanimous votes this week on its two Consent Agendas of routine business matters, the Sarasota City Commission formally approved steps that should result in a state award of $600,037 to help the city “replace damaged highway lighting infrastructure” on Lido and St. Armands keys.
The formal Agenda Request Form for the item on Consent Agenda 1 said that the equipment stands along West North Washington Drive and John Ringling Boulevard, up to the “intersection with Benjamin Franklin Drive and extending to the southerly terminus of Benjamin Franklin Drive …” Among the types equipment are “lamp heads, arms, wiring harnesses, solar panels, controllers [and] batteries … damaged during Hurricanes Helene and Milton” in late September and early October 2024, respectively.
Before the votes, Vice Mayor Kathy Kelley Ohlrich asked for a brief explanation of the initiative.
Robert Heggan, the city’s surveyor and Capital Projects Department coordinator, explained that 144 poles “sustained some level of damage during the storms. We have 93 missing panels, and we have an assortment of battery damage.”
Documents in the commission’s Oct. 19 agenda packet put the total project area at 1.7 miles. Those materials also pointed out that the work is to be completed by June 30, 2027.
Heggan also told the commissioners, “I’ve been handling this particular project for quite some time,” noting that he had initiated it and had worked to get the funding agreement in place.
The reason this has taken so long, he continued, is that the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) — which is the source of the funding that the city is to receive from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is “very particular in what they allow and don’t allow” to be paid for with federal money.
If physical damage is not obvious, Heggan continued, “They will not cover it.”
The solar batteries on the poles were damaged by storm surge, he said, but that damage was not visible. “There was a lot of back-and-forth for almost a year with FHA,” he added.
“We have a consultant on board that’s working [with FDOT representatives],” Heggan also noted.
If the board members approved the agenda items that day, he continued, the documents would be submitted formally to FDOT “for their approval.” Then, he said, the city would be able to issue a solicitation for bids for the work. That likely would take place in early 2027, he added.
Ohlrich told him, “I wanted your presentation so that we could verbalize and get on the record that we’re still working very diligently on repairs … on damage that happened in 2024.”
Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch noted that one of her constituents had a message for city staff in regard to the plans: “Please hurry up, as fast as you can.”
Ahearn-Koch added, “They appreciate all the work that has been done at this point.”
Then Mayor Debbie Trice asked Heggan, “We’re still negotiating [on the FDOT funding]?”
“We have agreed on an amount with FDOT,” he replied. “However,” he explained, “they go through a lengthy process of approving [a local government’s] bid package” before the solicitation can be advertised.
Ahearn-Koch also asked about the source of the remaining funds — $118,426 — since the project expense total in the commission’s Oct. 19 agenda packet was put at $718,463.
City Engineer Sage Kamiya came to the table in front of the dais at that point to explain that the necessary funds needed beyond the FDOT grant would come out of the city’s reserves.
Following the exchanges, Ohlrich made the motion to approve the item on Consent Agenda 1, which authorized the mayor and City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs to execute what is called a Local Agency Program Agreement between the city and FDOT for the Hurricane Milton Permanent Highway Lighting Repair Project. Commissioner Kyle Battie seconded it, and it passed 5-0.
The related item on Consent Agenda 2 was a formal resolution authorizing Mayor Trice and Griggs to execute the Local Agency Agreement. No more discussion occurred before the board members approved that item.