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Commission approves amendment reallocating $27.5 million to Schenley Park sewer expansion, directs future financing
Summary
The commission voted to amend a resolution to reduce an immediate GOB allocation to the Schenley Park sewer project and direct the mayor to include $27.5 million for the project in future debt issuance and financing so the project proceeds without losing grant funding.
The Miami-Dade County Commission approved an amendment reallocating Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond (GOB) funds and directing the mayor to include $27.5 million for the Schenley Park Sewer Expansion System in future financing.
Commissioner Cabrera moved the amendment to revise allocations from GOB Project Number 17, shifting funds so that $98,500,000 is allocated to the sewer expansion for industrial and commercial corridors and reducing the GOB allocation for the Schenley Park project from $45,000,000 to $27,500,000. The amendment directs the mayor or the mayor's designee to include the Schenley Park Sewer Expansion System project on a list of projects to be funded from future financing proceeds, backed by the county's debt covenant, and to include $27,500,000 for the Schenley Park project in the 2025 debt issuance or the next issuance undertaken.
The amendment also clarifies that the Schenley Park project is estimated to cost at least $55,000,000 and makes conforming changes to the resolution title and text. Commissioner Cohen Higgins seconded the amendment. The item was moved as amended and passed on a voice vote; commissioners present signified "aye." The transcript does not record a roll-call tally.
Roy Coley, chief utilities and regulatory services officer, said the county had previously accepted a DEP (state) grant for the project but learned the state funding source had a short expenditure timeline. Because Schenley Park was not design-ready, Coley said the department reallocated those state funds to a shovel-ready GEO-bond project to avoid losing the grant, then planned to replace the GOB funds and return Schenley Park to the intended funding level.
Commissioners asked about policies to prevent similar timing mismatches in the future. Coley said the county does have policies that prioritize projects with time-sensitive match or grant funds, but the DEP grant in this case arrived with a short "shot clock" after the grant was requested and the project was not yet in design. The commission approved the amendment and moved to the next item.
