Advisory committee asks for update on grants tied to Okeechobee fence project

Members of the Trails and Greenway Advisory Committee asked staff to confirm the status of multiple grant applications that would fund trail crossings and a long fence along Okeechobee, and they asked that the committee be informed before the council receives a report.

Committee members said the fence along Okeechobee was envisioned as "phase 2" of a grant effort; phase 1 covered crossings and potential design changes at specific intersections. "Step 2 of the grant... phase 2 would have been that long fence along Okeechobee," a committee member said. The committee reported that work and outreach had been invested in the application but that members had not received an update.

A committee member asked who is leading the grant effort; staff said Mary Nichols had been the primary contact. "I could send an email out to Mary Nichols and ask her and see where she's at with it because it was Mary that was the front of it," Public Works Superintendent Craig Lauer said. The committee also raised a separate mural grant that had been discussed; members said the committee should know the status of both grants before preparing a council update.

No formal grant award or denial was announced at the meeting and the committee did not take an action to change or reapply for any grant at this time. Members asked staff to confirm the current status of the grant applications and report back prior to the committee's recommendation to the town council.