Port Richey committee to package Sunset Road, Bay Boulevard, lift stations for federal resiliency funding

Committee members for the City of Port Richey spent their meeting reviewing a Pasco County-led resiliency briefing and agreed to prepare a project package focused first on Sunset Road, with Bay Boulevard, sanitary lift stations and the Indian Mound listed as follow-on priorities.

The discussion centered on how Port Richey can translate a vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan into funding-ready projects. Committee member Linda said the county presenters were “very knowledgeable and very, very willing to help us,” and members described opportunities to access non‑matching state and federal funds if the city can describe specific, shovel‑ready work.

Pasco County attendees identified in the briefing include Dr. Mark Bellas (leading the county effort), Jeff Harris (freshwater ecologist) and Anthony Thomas (grants specialist); Dr. Ping Wong of the University of South Florida is leading a university‑based coastal monitoring effort that committee members cited as a technical resource. Committee members said those contacts could help Port Richey build a technical narrative—maps, photos and elevations—that federal partners and grant programs often require.

City participants described four interlocking priorities to package for funding: reducing blue‑sky tidal flooding that now overtops Sunset Road at high tides; improving conveyance and enclosures on Bay Boulevard (from Wilkins to Old Post Road) and adjacent stormwater connections; hardening and elevating sanitary lift stations; and identifying measures to protect the Indian Mound, which the committee noted as a cultural/heritage asset flagged in the vulnerability work.

Members discussed specific funding channels mentioned in the briefing, including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) home‑repair programs, FEMA mitigation programs and Army Corps of Engineers planning pathways (committee members referenced an Army Corps ‘‘CAP 103 initiation report’’ and a ‘‘CAP 14 effort report’’ discussed by Corps staff). The committee said the county presenters indicated some nonmatching funds may be available for projects that meet program criteria; local officials noted that federal and state grant rules often require showing whether properties lie in designated flood hazard areas and whether structures are already elevated.

City staff and committee members agreed on next steps: digitize and circulate elevation information for Sunset Road, assemble photographic evidence of recurring tidal flooding, and draft a compact project package to share with Corps staff and the county prior to formal project requests. Committee members asked Daryl (staff) to provide existing elevation maps and asked Ashley (staff) to circulate materials before the next meeting so members can review them in advance.

The committee also noted recent small wins referenced in the briefing: applications for generators and other lift‑station hardening were underway and the county is reactivating a decades‑old regional projects program that could provide a funding avenue, though the Army Corps’ interest may vary by project scope.

Members discussed regional engagement opportunities: the Tampa Bay coastal master‑plan kickoff (a NOAA‑supported regional effort referenced in the meeting; exact award amount and dates were not specified in the transcript) and a regional resiliency summit scheduled for May 15–16 (registration and agenda details to be confirmed). Committee members volunteered to represent the city at regional meetings and agreed that at least one committee seat should attend and report back.

There were no formal policy votes recorded on project authorizations at the meeting; the group concluded by setting the next meeting to focus primarily on Sunset Road elevations and a draft package for federal partners.