Transportation trust fund: county engineers seek financing for $5.31 million of road and culvert work

Shane Parker, Henry County public works director, told commissioners Aug. 26 that a set of high-priority road, culvert and bridge projects in the Transportation Trust Fund will exceed current available funding and that county support or borrowing will be required to move them to construction. "It's a total of 5,310,000.00," Parker said when describing the package of projects he would like to pursue, then detailed how phasing and financing choices affect which work can be done.

Key projects and estimated costs Parker cited included an $800,000 shortfall to complete Henry Isles Boulevard construction, roughly $1,000,000 for culvert replacements tied to Northeast Eucalyptus crossings, $650,000 to resurface 7 K Estates, and $1,200,000 for Fort Denote Acres. He also listed a $310,000 design need to position County Road 78 for future construction funding, and a $350,000 line item for a culvert contractor to address a possible failure on County Road 835. Parker said the total package would cost about $5.31 million and that financing it over five years would reduce the immediate cash requirement to a roughly $2,000,000 cash infusion plus debt service.

Parker told the board the county already plans to transfer $2,000,000 to the Transportation Trust Fund from capital funds and that, "If we could finance that over 5 years, that would mean that I would only need a cash infusion of a little over 2,000,000." He said debt-service payments on the financed amount would be about $1.2 million to $1.25 million annually depending on the projects chosen. Commissioners discussed prioritization: Parker recommended finishing Henry Isles Boulevard first, then Georgia Avenue and Old County Road 78, the Northeast Eucalyptus culvert repairs, and the County Road 835 culvert work.

Parker also reviewed road and bridge maintenance and said drainage and culvert work is increasingly urgent in places where pipes have exceeded life expectancy. He described equipment needs driven by unexpected failures of a bucket truck and a motor grader, and an excavator purchase that will finish payments in the upcoming fiscal year. The typical equipment ask is roughly $250,000–$300,000 annually; Parker provided a multi-year equipment schedule and said the department needs several trucks, tractors and smaller pieces of equipment.

Transit and airport items were also raised: Parker said anticipated transit matching requirements would be about $897,928 this year and that Glades County may provide about $190,000 toward door-to-door trips. He reported the county has pursued additional FDOT funding for several projects and that SCOP and SCRAP allocations remain uncertain for the next legislative session.

Parker told commissioners that some construction bids had recently come in lower and others higher, and that bid levels are volatile. He said design work can position the county to compete for DOT or legislative appropriations. Commissioners asked about options to offset costs, including asking adjacent landowners to participate in culvert costs and whether more in-house engineering could reduce consultant fees; Parker said he preferred contracting design because the county does not have steady project volume to justify a full-time design engineer.

No final financing decision was made at the workshop; commissioners signaled support for prioritizing Henry Isles Boulevard and some culvert repairs, asked staff to explore financing options and asked Parker to return with refined cost models.