BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Bradford County has switched engineers, approving the expenditure of nearly $60,000 to complete the design and permitting of the Cypress Run boat ramp at Lake Sampson.
The approval came over objections from someone who has been watching the slow progression of the grant-funded project.
Paul Still raised questions about the project, including whether the grant funds allocated to the project had already been spent with the prior engineer, and if so, whether the funds would be returned if the plans produced were unsatisfactory.
Still has raised questions about the project for some time now, believing the plans submitted to the state for approval would not be permitted.
“It’s not clear whether they (engineers at CHW) are going to be designing a new set of plans. It’s pretty clear to me that the plans that were designed by DRMP … you’re not going to be able to get a permit for those plans because they involve dredging Lake Sampson on property not owned by the county, and also because there is an existing canal that can be used. And one of the criteria for getting a permit for dredging is that there’s not an alternative out there for the dredging,” Still said.
Still asked the commission to remove the item for approval with the consent agenda and table it until there is more clarity on what was being asked. According to him, there are items not included in CHW’s proposal that will cost more than $60,000 to complete.
“I think it’s real important that you spend some time determining whether this is actually what you might want to go forward with. And more importantly, it’s very simple to make that boat ramp serviceable,” Still said.
Still would prefer that the county perform “maintenance sediment removal” from the canal and upgrade the existing boat ramp to make it serviceable.
Commissioners approved the proposal from CHW as part of the consent agenda without comment.
Bradford County was awarded a $59,000 grant requiring a $1,000 county grant but did not meet the requirements for grant reimbursement. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had previously allowed a one-year extension to complete the grant-funded project. However, according to staff, FWC rejected a recent amendment to the grant agreement that would have allowed the county to seek reimbursement of its expenses prior to receiving the necessary permits.
Staff said engaging with CHW to complete the project design will allow the county to pursue reimbursement of design costs and then seek reimbursement of the permitting costs when that process is complete.
According to the clerk’s office, the grant funding would be used to reimburse the county for most of what was paid to DRMP for its work. That total came to more than $46,000 in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021.
The funding will not cover the cost of CHW’s work to complete the project. CHW will be paid with by the county, which has now allocated $40,000 in vessel fees (paid through boat registrations) and $19,850 in county contingency funding.
According to CHW’s proposal, the project includes the design and permit approval for the boat ramp as well as roadway improvements tying into Southeast 129th Street for “enlarged access and increased traffic.” The design needs to address wetlands mitigation needed for the environmental resource permits from the Suwannee River Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers.
The county released the prior reports and plans to CHW, which found that “additional geotechnical, ecological, civil design and permitting services are necessary to obtain the necessary permits for the boat ramp and produce accurate construction plans with efficient stormwater management and offsite wetland mitigation strategies.”
