City awards Indian River Lagoon baffle-box contract and moves forward on Malabar/Emerson PD&E studies
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Summary
The council approved awarding a $750,000 FDEP-funded Indian River Lagoon baffle box project (city match ~$237,000) and authorized PD&E design agreements with FDOT for Malabar Road and Emerson widenings; procurement used an ITB and council emphasized education and coordination for water-quality improvements and traffic planning.
The Palm Bay City Council approved multiple infrastructure steps intended to improve water quality and address future traffic growth.
Public works staff recommended awarding the Indian River Lagoon baffle-box contract funded primarily by a Florida Department of Environmental Protection water-quality restoration grant ($750,000) with a city match of $237,000. Staff recommended Timothy Rose Contracting (Vero Beach) as the apparent low bidder under an invitation to bid; council approved the award by voice vote after asking procurement and public-works staff about the ITB process and bid guarantees.
Council also approved resolutions to authorize Local Agency Program agreements and PD&E (Project Development & Environment) studies with the Florida Department of Transportation for two road segments: Malabar Road (Minton to St. John’s Heritage Parkway) and Emerson (Jupiter to St. John's Heritage Parkway). Staff explained PD&E is the first phase, typically followed by design and construction; the PD&E documents have a limited shelf life (roughly five years), and staff emphasized the need to proceed now to capture the FDOT work already completed and to mitigate expected traffic from new development.
Council asked staff to pair capital projects with continued community education—particularly around source controls for water quality like yard clippings—and to track project timelines and funding (transportation impact fees were cited as available for Emerson). The votes on procurement and the PD&E authorizations were unanimous.