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Vero Beach outlines Oakmont Park stormwater project, flags $1.5M grant need
Summary
City staff presented the stormwater utility five-year plan, identifying a $2.75M Oakmont Park pump-station project that staff say requires roughly $1.5M in grant funding before construction; staff also flagged a pilot littoral-mats program to measure nutrient removal.
City staff told the Vero Beach City Council at a CIP workshop that Oakmont Park is the stormwater utility’s anchor project in the five-year plan and will not proceed until significant grant funding is secured. “We are showing potential grant funding of $1.5 million to offset that $2.75 million project,” a city staff presenter said.
The project is described as a mechanical stormwater pump station intended to provide relief during major rainfall events. Staff said design and permitting are expected to finish late this fiscal year or early next, at which point the project would be “shovel ready” and the city would aggressively seek state and mitigation grants. Staff characterized typical grants as a 50/50 match but said they will pursue higher match levels where possible.
Staff also discussed stormwater revenue and collection. The presentation compared last year’s projection (~$1,071,786) with a conservative current projection (~$970,471) and noted the school district has elected not to pay about $30,000 in stormwater fees; staff said they will investigate other potentially unpaid parcels.
Separately, staff described a littoral-mats pilot at Lake Rose and other city sites intended to capture nutrients from stormwater. The city has harvested material and sent samples to a lab; results will be tracked over a year to calculate nutrient removal in pounds and dollars-per-pound metrics, information the city says will help prioritize stormwater investments.
Why it matters: Oakmont is the largest near-term stormwater capital item in the CIP and its timing and scope hinge on external grant awards. The littoral-mats pilot could shape how the city spends stormwater dollars by providing data on cost-effectiveness for reducing nitrogen and phosphorus loading to the lagoon.
Next steps: Staff said Oakmont design will conclude before grant pursuit and that the Jackie Robinson Ditch maintenance work is likely to be an early executable project once funds are available.
