Board recommends town submit FDEP SRF loan application for Lake Placid Camp waterline, with caveat

The Lake Placid Utilities Advisory Board voted to recommend that town council submit a Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan application to finance a 10-inch waterline extension serving the Lake Placid Camping Conference Center.

Staff presented the application packet and said the SRF loan amount described in the packet is $2,800,000. Staff noted that the SRF agreement referenced principal forgiveness figures in the packet but that the transcript language and packet citations in the meeting transcript were not fully consistent; staff emphasized the town—s recommendation includes a condition that final acceptance of any loan will be contingent on a fully executed bulk water agreement that protects the town—s interests.

Staff explained that the camping/conference entity cannot apply in its own name so the town would be the applicant and would hold funds and make payments to the state while the camping conference district reimburses the town into an account. "The town reserves the right to decline the loan if the agreement does not not complete it, prior to acceptance," staff said in explaining the caveat in the recommended motion.

Board members repeatedly urged clearer timelines for completion of the bulk water and pioneer agreements and expressed frustration about repeated delays in getting the bulk agreement through legal review. "I don't think it's a utilities director issue, I think it's a town attorney's issue," one board member said, urging an enforceable timeline and better communication.

A motion to recommend submission of the SRF loan application and to authorize staff to execute related documents (subject to the bulk water agreement caveat) passed on a roll call vote.