Riviera Beach presses ahead on water‑plant construction and SRF financing as GMP6 clears

A series of construction and financing updates at Riviera Beach's May 20 meeting underscored both progress and the scale of remaining work on the city's water system modernization program.

Brown & Caldwell and the Haskell/CDM Smith joint venture briefed the board and council on permitting, well drilling and infrastructure sequencing for the new water treatment plant. Brown & Caldwell's owner's representative said six of eight production wells have been drilled and that injection‑well drilling resumed after an equipment pause.

Suzanne Mechler, representing the design‑build JV, outlined the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program timeline and said the city is in the SRF pipeline: an initial SRF authorization list included about $240 million for the program with $30 million in the first year and roughly $5.36 million of principal forgiveness on that tranche. Mechler urged elected officials to reach out to state decision makers to advocate for additional principal forgiveness as staff completes a June application window.

At the USD meeting the board authorized GMP6 with Haskell CDM Smith for a raw water transmission main in an amount not to exceed $37,021,475.26. Deputy Director Gallant told the board that the pipeline is "critical to the operation of the plant: if we can't get the water from the wells to the plant, they won't do us much good." The measure passed with two dissenting votes.

Finance director Randy Sherman laid out a capital financing challenge: the original rate model assumed issuing about $400 million in bonds for the water plant, but cost increases and added projects push potential borrowing toward $440 million. Sherman described a capital stack that could include SRF low‑rate loans (e.g., 1.87% for some SRF tranches) and partial principal forgiveness to lower the city's annual debt service. He characterized SRF assistance as "huge" but said the district must pursue multiple pots of grant and loan funding, and that staff will return to the board in June with SRF and other debt proposals.

Board members asked for a five‑year capital plan, prioritization of worst‑first neighborhoods and analysis of how impact fees and bonding fit into rate stability. "When debt service every year is close to $30 million on $440,000,000, that extra 20% that we're required to have every year is now available for capital," Sherman explained, adding staff will present funding options and schedule for coming bond and SRF activity.

What's next: The USD and council approved engineering and GMP contracts to sustain construction while staff completes SRF application materials and brings a prioritized, costed capital plan to the June meetings for the budget cycle.