Federal funds are accelerating two island cities’ plans for infrastructure improvements.
The U.S. American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion federal stimulus bill signed into law in March by President Joe Biden, committed $78.2 million to Manatee County and $3,537,200 to Anna Maria Island’s three cities.
Funding includes:
- $740,432 for Anna Maria;
- $640,592 for Bradenton Beach;
- $2,156,176 for Holmes Beach.
The federal government released half of the funding on May 10, 2021, and was set to release the second half on May 10 — a year after the initial disbursement.
The money can be applied to a variety of uses, such as replenishing lost revenue, bolstering nonprofit organizations, responding to public health emergencies, as well as funding infrastructure and environmental projects.
Recipients do not need to obligate the funds until Dec. 31, 2024, and the unexpended funds can’t be recaptured until Dec. 31, 2026.
Plenty of time remains to plan and apply the money to projects, but two out of three island cities have an idea of how it will be spent.
Anna Maria
City commissioners discussed tentative plans through fiscal 2021-22 for the funds in June 2021, including:
- $351,500 for the city’s stormwater infiltration infrastructure maintenance budget;
- $292,300 to fund a $1.363 million Pine Avenue improvement project;
- $111,000 for environmental issues;
- $22,200 to support nonprofit organizations.
City clerk LeAnne Addy wrote in a May 6 email to The Islander that, due to changes by the U.S. Treasury regarding the funds, the city would revisit its ARPA spending plan during its 2022-23 budget process.
So far, the city has committed $4,367.05 in ARPA funds to three local nonprofits that struggled financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The figure is lower than the city projected due to the cancelation of a proposed $16,260 transfer to the Center of Anna Maria Island since the community center did not lose money in fiscal 2020-21.
Commissioners also voted in March to allocate $50,000 to environmental improvements — stormwater infiltration maintenance — after a clam-seeding proposal was withdrawn by contractors.
A chunk of the city’s ARPA funds will go toward improving Pine Avenue, where plans call for new meandering pervious-paver sidewalks, enhanced crosswalks and solar-powered street lighting, adding bicycle paths on both sides of the road, as well as improving the trolley turnaround on the bayfront.
City staff and officials have discussed improving Pine for years but began conceptualizing plans to “reimagine” the roadway last summer with ARPA’s financial backing.
The city also requested $1,288,440 from the state to pay for the project, an appropriation that passed both the Senate and House but remained on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk, vulnerable to his veto, as of May 7.
The city issued a request for proposals for the first phase of work — sidewalks, crosswalks and lighting — earlier this spring.
City commissioners will discuss the RFP status at a meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive. The meeting will be open to the public. Directions to attend via Zoom can be found at cityofannamaria.com.
Holmes Beach
City commissioners reached a consensus May 3 to approve an updated spending plan for the $2,156,176 the city received through ARPA, including:
- $916,375 to fund a $2.75 million project to improve the “city center,” the intersection of Gulf and Marina drives to the 5600 block of Marina Drive;
- $500,000 for stormwater improvement projects J, K and L;
- $464,801 for construction of “complete streets” improvements on Gulf Drive from Holmes Boulevard to Palm Drive;
- $250,000 to design the Gulf Drive complete streets improvements;
- $25,000 to hire London-based Ernst & Young, an accounting firm, for assistance managing the ARPA funds.
City center improvements will involve adding roadway markings, bicycle lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, street lighting and landscaping, as well as drainage infrastructure.
City commissioners voted in April to approve a $2,753,784.55 contract with Sarasota-based C-Squared CGC to complete the work.
ARPA funding will be supplemented with $455,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and money collected from the discretionary half-cent sales tax and local option fifth-cent gas tax.
Altogether, funding for the design and construction of the Gulf Drive complete streets project is the second-largest planned use of the city’s ARPA money at $714,801.
The complete streets project entails adding bicycle lanes and a multiuse path along the corridor.
Lastly, the city’s plans for stormwater improvement phases J, K and L involve adding infiltration trenches along several stretches of city roadways, including:
- Phase J: the intersection of Palm Drive and 85th Street just south of CrossPointe Fellowship;
- Phase K: Gulf Drive, 52nd and 45th streets;
- Phase L: Marina Drive from 65th Street to Clark Lane.
The $500,000 ARPA funding would cover about half the $1,078,088 projected cost.
The city provided no timelines for the complete streets and stormwater improvement projects.
Bradenton Beach
Shayne Thompson, Bradenton Beach treasurer, wrote in a May 4 email to The Islander that, so far, the city’s only ARPA expenditure has been an $8,000 payment to repair the city’s marine patrol boat.
Otherwise, Thompson said city commissioners had not determined how the city will apply the remaining $632,592 in ARPA funds.