Fort Lauderdale staff outline $1-billion infrastructure slate, stormwater master plan and timeline limits

Deputy director and chief resilience officer Dr. Nancy Gassman told commissioners Fort Lauderdale is undertaking more than $1 billion in capital infrastructure over the next five years while managing long backlogs and funding shortfalls.

"We are literally doing a $1,000,000,000 plus of infrastructure improvements," Dr. Gassman said, summarizing capital projects across water, wastewater, roads, sidewalks, bridges and resilience programs.

Nut graf: The department described major, ongoing projects (the Prospect Lake Clean Water Center and enabling works, wastewater consent-order repair, bridges, sidewalk network gaps and a multi-neighborhood stormwater master plan) and asked the commission to prioritize because staff and contractor capacity -- and funding -- constrain the pace at which work can be done.

Key details presented

- Water and Wastewater: Dr. Gassman said the Prospect Lake Clean Water Center and enabling works are the core water treatment activity; wastewater work includes force-main improvements, treatment plant upgrades and inflow-and-infiltration remediation tied to a consent order. Staff noted that inflow and infiltration (I/I) reductions are essential to reduce volumes sent to treatment and limit capital expansion.

- Bridges and Roads: The city owns 53 bridges and historically can afford to rehabilitate one or two per year; at that rate, some city bridges would not be addressed for 25 years. The pavement program currently budgets about $1.5 million per year for repaving. Staff said that funding must increase to accelerate repaving and maintenance.

- Sidewalks: A sidewalk master plan is complete and staff will present prioritization to commissioners; staff said the existing budget will not fill all gaps and that neighborhoods differ in preference (some do not want sidewalks on their streets). Staff said they can present an ordinance overhaul to allow more flexibility for neighborhoods and will present specifics in the coming month.

- Stormwater master plan: Phase 2 will cover conceptual design for 25 neighborhoods and 12 projects, with targeted completion of all identified projects by about 2030 at an estimated current cost of roughly $500 million. Dr. Gassman said the program is being phased (two to four projects per year) because full-scale citywide construction would be highly disruptive.

- Contractor capacity: Commissioners and staff identified an industry-wide shortage of contractors and design engineers as a major constraint on accelerating delivery, beyond pure financing.

Budget and possible funding steps

Staff suggested several funding approaches: (1) moderate adjustments within existing capital planning, (2) a targeted municipal bond or revenue bond to jump-start projects, and (3) a longer-term general obligation (GO) bond for sweeping acceleration. Staff noted a $60 million bond option that could be serviced within current CIP debt-service allocations; the bond would provide upfront resources to start priority resurfacing and seawall projects while the city considers a larger GO bond in a subsequent year.

What commissioners asked for and directed

Commissioners pressed staff for options to increase repaving, accelerate stormwater projects and explore bond or debt mechanisms (including short-term financing that uses existing CIP allocations). Several commissioners asked staff to return with options for a GO bond and described monitoring Pine—s municipal bond effort as an example. Staff said they will return with an allocation plan that identifies projects ready to deploy and outlines staffing and contractor capacity to deliver them.

Ending: Dr. Gassman emphasized the need for sustained funding and for the commission to set priorities so staff can sequence design, procurement and construction without repeatedly shifting resources.