FPUA board approves assignment of $28 million Resilient Florida grant for wastewater conveyance work

The Fort Pierce Utilities Authority board on July 15 approved the assignment of a $28 million Resilient Florida grant to FPUA to support conveyance work tied to relocation of the wastewater treatment plant off the Indian River Lagoon.

FPUA Director of Public Affairs and Sustainability Rachel Tennant told the board the assignment is one part of a larger grants program to supplement a 2022 bond and that the authority has submitted roughly $193.5 million in grant requests and been awarded just under $74.5 million to date. "We have been awarded, just under $74,500,000 of the funds that we've requested so far," Tennant said. She added about $34 million of the awarded amount is in contracts in development and that the $28 million assignment before the board is included in that work.

The project is organized in two broad parts: the new Wastewater Resource Facility (WRF) construction on Energy Lane, and a multi-project conveyance system to move wastewater from east to west toward the new plant. Tennant said the WRF construction carries a guaranteed maximum price and design costs of about $139.5 million and is scheduled for completion in December. She described the conveyance system as "a series of projects" across the service territory — pipe upsizes, booster stations and lift-station work — and said initial estimates for the first two phases are about $67.4 million.

Tennant explained how grant reimbursements work and reported FPUA has received about $26.4 million in reimbursements, with roughly $12.8 million currently in progress. She said some funding sources already secured include Resilient Florida awards (the $28 million assignment before the board is part of that program), a $10 million water-quality grant recently executed, state appropriations from 2022 and additional state appropriation this year (including $5 million), and a $1 million federal appropriation through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that remains in agreement stage.

On the federal funding, Tennant said the EPA award was approved earlier in the fundraising process but the authority still must finalize a federal agreement; she described the delay as related to changing priorities at the federal level and said FPUA is keeping contact with the regional grant manager. "We won't spend grant funds until we have an agreement," Tennant said.

Board members asked procedural and timing questions. A board member asked whether land purchases would be required for the conveyance work; Tennant said there has been at least one small purchase but that FPUA has relied primarily on easements and, for simplicity, has not included small property purchases in grant reimbursement requests. She also clarified that turning the new treatment plant on in December would move mainland flow first and that transferring all island (beach) flow will be a later project. Tennant estimated that full redirection of flow to the new plant could take about three to five years because the conveyance work is a series of construction projects completed in phases.

A motion to approve the assignment of the Resilient Florida grant was made and the board voted unanimously in favor. The city commission also signed the assignment at its meeting the day before, Tennant said, which allows FPUA to hold and manage the contract directly rather than having the city remain the contracting party.

Board action and next steps: the board authorized FPUA to accept and manage the Resilient Florida assignment; FPUA staff said they will continue coordinating grants management, design and phased construction, and pursue additional grant requests and appropriations as needed.