Port St. Lucie approves tentative 1-year and 5-year CIP; mayor flags $1.6 billion project backlog and stormwater needs

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Mayor Shannon Martin said the city approved tentative one-year and five-year capital improvement plans and face a backlog of projects she estimated at about $1.6 billion, with roughly $275 million in projects proposed for the coming year.

“We did approve our, the tentative, one year and the 5 year plan,” Mayor Shannon Martin said during Coffee with the Port St. Lucie Council. She told attendees staff submitted 202 capital project requests to the city manager’s team.

The tentative plans group projects by fund and timeline, the mayor said, and include enterprise-funded items such as utilities plus general-fund projects. Martin said 140 of the proposed projects — which she said totaled about $795 million and included stormwater and other enterprise work — were analyzed as part of the multiyear list of needs. For the next 12 months the city identifies 82 projects with an estimated cost of about $275 million.

Why it matters: the backlog and schedule of projects will shape the city’s borrowing, rate and fee decisions and future service planning. Martin said the city has reduced debt “over 44%” but still plans bond measures to pay for large infrastructure needs rather than waiting to accumulate cash.

Details from the mayor:

- Scale of need: “Our staff presented to, the city manager's team 202 project requests,” Martin said. She summarized the total project requests as about $1.6 billion across multiple years. - Near-term program: Martin said 82 projects are planned for the coming fiscal year, with an estimated combined cost of about $275 million. These include repaving, utilities work and stormwater projects. - Stormwater backlog: Martin said the city faces “over $250,000,000 worth of stormwater projects” and plans to use bonding to accelerate work on high-priority drainage areas. - Named project: Martin identified the Okamok Watershed Improvement Project in the Savona area as one of the targeted stormwater efforts, saying the neighborhood has recurrent localized flooding that must be addressed. - Utility capacity: Martin said the Glades wastewater treatment plant requires planning and future expansion to serve growth and that the city is beginning planning work now rather than waiting for capacity shortfalls. - Borrowing plans: She said the city expects several bond proposals in the next year, and cited a potential roughly $65 million bond focused on road and utility improvements, including Glades plant work.

Budget timing and constraints

Martin said the city manager will present the formal budget at a July workshop, after final valuation figures arrive from the property appraiser at the end of the month. She described the tentative CIP as a working plan that will be refined when revenue and valuation numbers are finalized on July 1.

Solid waste and disposal costs

Martin also discussed solid-waste costs as a budget pressure. She said the city’s collection contract with FCC remains in place through 2029 and allows collection-rate increases up to 4% tied to CPI. Disposal fees are set by the county-run landfill; Martin said county staff, represented to the city by St. Lucie County Administrator George Landry, presented an initial estimate of “around $69,” but she added the city’s solid-waste team disputes the county’s tonnage assumptions and is reviewing the figures. The transcript does not specify the unit for the $69 estimate (for example, per ton or another basis).

Other decisions noted on air

Martin said the City approved the tentative CIP at a recent workshop and reiterated that the city will pursue a mix of funding sources — general revenues, grants and bond financing — to address the backlog. She said the city has focused on lowering debt levels (she cited a 44% reduction) but still needs borrowing to pay for large, multiyear infrastructure needs.

She also noted that a contractor has been selected for the development of a restaurant at the Port; preconstruction meetings have taken place and she said a groundbreaking could occur in the next couple of months.

Context and next steps

Martin told listeners that staff will continue to refine project costs and revenue estimates, that the city manager will present a proposed budget at the July workshop, and that final revenue estimates tied to property valuations will be available around July 1. Residents seeking details about specific projects or the CIP were directed to the city website and the mayor’s newsletter.