Riverside Park neighborhood improvement project nears completion; city expects punch-list finish by October

Pinald Gandhi Satvis, community redevelopment director, told the Stuart Community Redevelopment Agency on Aug. 25 that the Riverside Park neighborhood improvement project is 91% complete and is expected to be substantially finished by mid-September 2025, with remaining punch-list items completed through mid-October and grant closeout by November 2025. The director said the $2,500,000 project includes new sidewalks, on-street parking, crosswalks, streetlights, landscaping and milling and resurfacing work and covers construction and county administration fees for a grant the city received. "This includes a construction, county administration fees because they are administering the grant for us that we received for this project," Satvis said. Developer Mike Mortel confirmed the developer altered original plans to avoid curb cuts on most lots so on-street parking could be installed. Mortel described agreements with the city that required moving some water lines and shifting access to alleys behind houses so driveways would not remove planned parking spaces. "The developer did actually cooperate with the city and then also had to pay to move some water lines in order to make the entrance to the alleyway...so that we could actually put these on street parking spaces in," Mortel said. City staff said the contractor is CGRSC Inc., with CapTAC (Gary Jones) providing construction engineering inspection services and Kimberly Horn involved in post-design services and oversight. Remaining construction tasks listed by staff include paver parking, sod, final grading, milling and resurfacing, crosswalks and striping. Discussion vs. decision: the board received the construction update and asked clarifying questions about location and developer participation; no new formal action or vote on the project occurred at this meeting. The presentation notes the city is responsible for design and scope decisions under the grant agreement. Background and next steps: staff will track punch-list completion through mid-October and target grant closeout by November 2025. The presentation said delays occurred after Hurricane Milton forced temporary shutdowns during construction earlier in the project timeline.