Bridge Street won’t be the only Bradenton Beach roadway to benefit from buried utilities.
City commissioners voted 5-0 May 21 to direct city attorney Ricinda Perry to work with CDM Smith to piggyback a Belleair Beach contract and bury utilities along a limited stretch of Gulf Drive. The vote also directed Perry to seek a cost estimate from Florida Power & Light for the project.
The motion included paying CDM Smith up to $7,000, which falls into FPL’s permitting queue.
The process to ground the utilities on Bridge Street took nearly five years, but Mark Porter, senior utilities coordinator for CDM Smith, said his company can reduce the time frame on Gulf Drive.
Work to transfer the above-ground utility lines to underground — funded by the city’s community redevelopment agency — began in April and the switch to the new system began the week of May 11.
City officials also want to bury utilities along Gulf Drive using $2,000,000 in possible state money. The appropriation passed the Senate and House, but Gov. Ron DeSantis has until June 29 to give final approval for the funding.
If DeSantis approves the appropriation, the city would need to meet with FPL to create a schedule and highlight sections of Gulf Drive where utilities would be buried.
Mayor John Chappie said spending $7,000 now could put the city ahead of others in the permitting process.
Commissioner Ralph Cole made the motion, and it was seconded by Commissioner Jan Vosburgh.
Avenue B drainage improvements
Bradenton Beach officials are eyeing Avenue B for improvements.
Commissioners voted unanimously to direct city engineer Lynn Burnett to create final designs for a drainage improvement project.
Work would involve installing a 4-foot-wide French drain infiltration system along the rights of way from 22nd Street North to 26th Street North, as well as remove driveway aprons along the roadway for infiltration trenches and restore them.
Burnett recommended moving forward on a final design by June 30 so the city could begin the permitting process for construction. She did not provide a time frame for how long the permitting process may take.
The city has yet to decide on a standard material to top the drainage trenches on Avenue B. Burnett had recommended sod as a baseline material instead because, she said, stone would leave the roadway dusty.
Regardless, residents could choose stone or sod for the rights of way in front of their homes, and asphalt, concrete or brick pavers for driveway aprons.
Burnett said work on Avenue B wouldn’t begin until after Thanksgiving.
The work must be completed before March 20, 2021, in order for the city to receive 50% reimbursement from Swiftmud for the $222,000 project.