City of Sarasota Public Works director asked to provide regular updates on funding sought through Army Corps of Engineers
On a unanimous vote, the Sarasota County Commission has approved three projects that add up to $29,734,000 out of the $30 million from a federal grant that the board members set aside in April for the dredging of major waterways other than Phillippi Creek.
The action came during the commission’s regular meeting on Nov. 18, which was held in Venice.
Two of the initiatives are within the City of Sarasota; the third involves excavating the Central Cell of the Celery Fields Regional Stormwater Project. That would provide more floodplain mitigation, as noted in a document in the board’s agenda packet.
Ten representatives of city neighborhood organizations had urged the board members to approve the funding. Among them, Alan Ezrin, who lives on Oak Street, in the Laurel Park neighborhood, explained that he and his wife live about 75 yards from the Oak Street Canal, near the terminus of Hudson Bayou. “It is in really bad shape,” he said of the waterway, showing the board members photos.
Already, he added, he had paid $50,000 for efforts to try to keep water out of his garage during routine rain events. “We will lose this house unless Hudson Bayou is dredged,” Ezrin stressed to the board members. “Since Milton, the canal has not been cleared of debris,” he pointed out, referring to the last hurricane that struck the county in 2024.
County commissioners did express concern that nearly half of the funding for the other city project — the dredging of Whitaker Bayou — entails a city request to Congress for an appropriation of nearly $10 million.
County staff agreed to provide the commissioners regular updates on the status of that funding request, in the event that the city does not win the appropriation. Steve Hyatt, manager of what is called the county’s Resilient SRQ Program, told the commissioners that If the city proves unable to obtain the money, they would be able to dedicate the county award of $10,012,000 to another initiative.
The county has six years within which to spend the nearly $210.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which the county received in January for use in responding to unmet needs resulting from the 2024 hurricane season, Hyatt pointed out.
As with the earlier HUD grant that the county received, in regard to Hurricane Ian’s strike in 2022, Hyatt has explained that any unspent federal funds no longer would be available for county use after the six-year period ends.
During the outset of his Nov. 18 presentation, Hyatt did remind the board members that HUD calls for 70% of the grant funds — $147,065,800 — to be used to benefit low- to moderate-income individuals in the county. That income level is defined as 80% of the Area Median Income of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. HUD sets the income levels each year, usually by spring, based on observations of The Sarasota News Leader.
Alternative scenarios and questions about congressional action
After Hyatt began his remarks about the facets of the three proposals for the dredging funds, Commissioner Teresa Mast told him, “As we know, sometimes these project come in perhaps over budget and sometimes under budget. What happens if they come in over budget?”
For example, she added, what could be done if the total expense ends up being $1 million over budget?
“A few scenarios” are available, he replied. If funding that has not been allocated is available, Hyatt said, staff can come back to the board and seek direction on adding the extra money.
In a situation in which no additional funding can be tapped from the grant, he continued, staff can go back to the applicant to determine whether it might be able to provide the extra money to bridge the gap. He noted that local, state or federal funds could be used to take care of the remaining expense.
Mast also noted that because the Resilient SRQ money is a grant, projects are required to be completed before the applicant receives the funds.
Hyatt then turned to the first project for which funds had been requested: the dredging of Hudson Bayou.
That would be considered under the “Urgent Needs” category, he added. Based on the number of low- to moderate-income residents who would be helped by that initiative, he explained, the county could get partial credit for meeting the HUD objective to serve those residents. For example, he noted, it could be 40% or 47%.
“That’s really beneficial,” Hyatt pointed out, “because we can then fund more ‘Urgent Need’ type projects than we can low- to moderate-income type projects,” as staff had to do with the HUD grant for the unmet needs resulting from Hurricane Ian’s strike in 2022.
Hiatt proceeded to describe the other two projects for which the dredging money had been sought, presenting the relevant slides with his comments about them:
After Hyatt reviewed the applications, Commissioner Ron Cutsinger noted that the City of Sarasota plans to supplement its HUD money with a federal appropriation of approximately $10 million. “And that’s gone through the [U.S.] House, but not the Senate?”
Hyatt indicated that he was not certain of the status of that funding.
Cutsinger said he just wanted to make sure “that we understand where the other $10 million’s coming from,” and what the commission would have to do if Congress does not end up approving the appropriation.
Perhaps the county commissioners could ask Rob Lewis, director of governmental relations for the county, to advocate, too, for the federal funding for the city, Cutsinger suggested.
Then Chair Joe Neunder noted, “Maybe it might be advantageous” to figure out when the appropriation would be expected to be approved.
Commissioner Tom Knight proposed that a city representative in the audience might be able to provide more details.
Nik Patel, director of the city’s Public Works Department, came to the podium then. The U.S. House did approve the appropriation, he said. City staff believes that it should know by early January whether the U.S. Senate will approve the money, as well, he added.
If the Senate agrees to the funding, Patel continued, “We should know by spring of 2026” whether the city will be able to get the grant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“That helps,” Neunder responded.
When Commissioner Mark Smith asked Hyatt for a reminder about how long the county has to spend the money, Hiatt replied that the period is six years.
“Even for the federal government,” Smith said, “we should [be able to] work within that.”
“You’d think so,” Hyatt responded, prompting a chuckle from Smith.
Hyatt added that county staff members handling the Resilient SRQ Program “keep a very close eye” on the applications, especially those with supplemental funding expected from other sources. The goal, he explained, is to make certain that if that extra money does not become available — and, thus, certain projects cannot be undertaken — the County Commission has the opportunity to dedicate their allocation to other initiatives.
Commissioner Mast then asked Patel, “Sir, does the city have a lobbyist group?”
“Yes, we do,” he told her.
When she asked whether that group is working on securing the federal appropriation, Patel replied, “Yes, they are.” The lobbyist is providing city staff with regular updates, Patel added.
‘A big lump sum’
After Hyatt indicated that his presentation was complete, Smith said, “I’m all in favor of [these funding proposals] and willing to make a motion.”
However, Mast pointed out, “Just to ensure that the funding is secure, so to speak, I think it would be … very important” for the city to provide regular updates to the county staff on the status of the federal appropriation.
“This is a big lump sum of the [HUD] funds,” she continued, so the commission would like to be able to reallocate the money for the Whitaker Bayou project if the city cannot obtain the federal appropriation.
Commissioner Knight asked whether the board should set a deadline for confirmation of the city appropriation. “We have a lot of waterways that we want to use money on,” he pointed out.
Mast told Knight, “Having dealt with appropriations in the past, if the planets are in alignment, [the city] will have it by spring [2026].”
Even if Congress approves the funding, she explained, it can take up to six months for the money to be provided to the applicant. “It’s very challenging. So I would not want to restrict [the city] from being recipients.”
Then Knight said he would second Smith’s motion, after Smith made it, and let the situation “play out.”
“I’ll just piggyback on what’s been said here,” Neunder told his colleagues. Addressing Patel, Neunder said, “We need to be updated as soon as you guys know. … I would be insistent on that.”
Neunder added, “Rob Lewis does a fantastic job with all of this.” Neunder suggested that Patel keep Lewis “in the loop,” as Lewis can communicate with all of the county commissioners in one email.
“That open dialogue and transparency will be critical,” Neunder pointed out. “It’s probably important to all of us up here that we get this [HUD] money out and working as fast as possible.”
Smith’s motion called for approving all three projects that Hyatt had described. However, Smith included direction that county staff make sure that the city has received the federal matching funds before the HUD money is provided to the city for the Whitaker Bayou initiative.
Before the vote, Neunder did ask for clarification from Hyatt that “Sarasota County will be the one performing the work …”
“Yes,” Hyatt said.
After the 5-0 vote of approval, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said, “If it’s acceptable to the board … if they don’t get the [appropriation from Congress], then we would bring it back to you all for a discussion item at the end of that [federal] process.”
“I think that’s prudent, Jonathan,” Neunder responded.