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Daytona Beach Shores seeks millions in state, federal grants to accelerate sewer and resilience projects
Summary
City staff told commissioners the city has applied for roughly $36 million in grants and loans for sewer upgrades, an Emergency Operations Center design and resilience work; several awards remain pending and would speed a multi‑decade plan if received.
Daytona Beach Shores staff told the City Commission during a working session that the city has applied for multiple large grants and loans — totaling about $36,000,000 in requests — aimed at sewer system upgrades and resiliency projects, and that several awards remain pending.
The request list includes a $3,900,000 grant for design of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC), multiple hurricane‑mitigation grants (including two related to Hurricane Nicole), a resiliency study of about $130,000, and what staff referred to as a "Safi" grant for about $14.5 million. Staff also cited State Revolving Fund Loan (SRFL) principal‑forgiveness funding and a DEP grant that staff said has a matching requirement and is being tracked for contract approval.
Why it matters: staff said if the city receives a large portion of the requested funding, work that would otherwise take 10 to 15 years to complete could be compressed into roughly three to four years, allowing faster replacement and upgrades of sewer infrastructure and related systems.
Staff characterized the package as a mix of grants, loan forgiveness and loans with varying match requirements. "If we get all of these grants, what was going to be a plan that I thought would probably take us 10 to 15 years to be able to fully implement ... we may have them all implemented in about 3 to 4 years," said a staff member (Speaker 3).
Staff noted other grant amounts and sources discussed during the session: two hurricane grants tied to Hurricane Nicole (staff cited about $120,000 total for generator and shutter work at City Hall), $15,000 per year state cybersecurity grants (totaled in the presentation as $30,000), and opioid task‑force funding of $25,000 for a hands‑free CPR assist device plus $50,000 toward AEDs (staff summarized those two items as roughly $75,000 in equipment funding). Several sewer projects were tied to Transform 386 monies; staff said some matches are already budgeted.
Status and next steps: staff said contracts and grant acceptance items will be brought to the commission for formal approval when grant contracts arrive. For at least one item (SRFL principal forgiveness), commissioners previously voted to accept the program, staff said. Several grants remain contingent on state or federal approvals; staff acknowledged timing and contract language may change before final acceptance.
Commissioners and staff discussed budgeting for matches and how loan forgiveness affects the appearance of debt on financial statements despite principal‑forgiveness terms.
Ending: staff said they will bring grant contracts and acceptance items back to the commission for formal action as they are received and that they are monitoring related state legislation and appropriations that could affect funding availability.
