Hollywood City reports $19.5M in grants; staff recommends using impact fees and CRA balances for parks, stormwater and security

A city staff member told the Hollywood City Commission that Hollywood City has been awarded $19,500,000 in grants in the first half of the fiscal year and has about $35,000,000 in pending grant applications. Staff also recommended using existing impact fees and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) fund balances to pay for park improvements, stormwater projects, beach restrooms and security bollards.

The presentation listed specific awards and proposed local spending. Staff said awarded grants in the current fiscal year include $7,500,000 for Sunset Park; $5,800,000 for a sea slip project on West Park Road; $4,100,000 from a Resilient Florida grant addressing flooding (as reported in the presentation); $950,000 from a prior state appropriation for the Johnson Street project (as reported); $481,000 from an African American cultural and historical grant for Martin Luther King renovations; $274,000,000 for a boating improvement grant for the marine fuel pier project (amount reported in the presentation); and $250,000 for the Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program for roof replacement at Fire Station 31. Staff said pending grant applications total roughly $35,000,000.

Staff described the city's five impact fees as parks and recreation, fire, police, general government and multimodal transportation, and noted that impact fees are collected when building permits are issued. The presentation reiterated a statutory requirement to conduct an impact fee study every four years and said the city will begin that study with consultants in the upcoming fiscal year.

On park spending, staff said the parks and recreation impact-fee balance is the largest available. For fiscal year 2025 staff reported using park impact fees to fund $250,000 for shade covers and fitness equipment at Stan Goldman and Jefferson Park; $600,000 for a splash pad at Mara Berman Galante Park; and $150,000 for the Stan Goldman Speed Park. Staff recommended using part of the remaining $4,300,000 in park impact fees to add restrooms at Poinciana Park and said the commission may recommend additional qualified projects to be paid from these fees.

Staff also addressed CRA fund balances. For the downtown CRA, staff said $4,600,000 is available and recommended recapturing $2,000,000 previously promised to the Hollywood City general fund related to the Hollywood Beach Golf Course clubhouse financing (staff said the CRA provided $3,000,000 up front with the intent to provide $2,000,000 over time). Staff said $210,000 would be taken from the downtown available balance to pay for the Bulbor Centennial Park playground, leaving roughly $1,000,000 in downtown CRA fund balance (staff estimate reported in the presentation).

On the beach CRA side, staff reported an $11,000,000 starting balance and proposed setting aside $5,000,000 for early-stage stormwater master-plan projects and pump-station work, $2,000,000 for security bollards (including locations on Hollywood Boulevard and Harrison Street), and funding for beach restrooms (dollar amount not specified in the presentation). Staff said an executive session on security bollards is scheduled for next week.

The presentation described reasons some grant applications remain pending, including pre-award compliance reviews and pauses on certain federal grants. Staff said available funds and proposed allocations have been factored into the upcoming budget.

No formal motions or commission votes were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt; the presentation contained recommendations for commission consideration and indicated staff will begin the statutorily required impact-fee study in the upcoming fiscal year.