Title
Cost Share Agreement for Paynes Prairie Treatment Wetland (B)
This item involves a request for the City Commission to authorize the City Manager to enter into a cost share agreement with St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) for the Paynes Prairie Treatment Wetland.
Explanation
The City of Gainesville (City) and the St. Johns River Water Management District wish to enter into a cost share agreement that will fund a portion of the Paynes Prairie Treatment Wetland to reduce pollutants flowing into Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park from downtown Gainesville via Sweetwater Branch.
The project will allow the City to meet its Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements for Alachua Sink, an impaired surface water in the park. It will also permit restoration of sheetflow of clean water onto 1,300 acres of degraded wetlands downstream of Sweetwater Branch.
This water-quality improvement project is the culmination of a decade of cooperation by the Orange Creek Basin Partnership, which includes the District, the City Public Works Department, Gainesville Regional Utilities, and the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection Division of State Parks. The District has already provided $1,065,500 to the City through a stormwater grant and a legislative appropriation for two stormwater management projects in the Sweetwater Branch watershed, Depot Park west ponds and interceptor pipe that are part of this treatment train.
Fiscal Note
Total project cost is estimated to be $1,468,000. The SJRWMD Cost-Share Agreement through legislative appropriation will provide $850,000 and will cover a portion of the design costs. Additional funding in the amount of $300,000 is available in the existing FDOT Cost Share Agreement and the remaining $318,000 will be allocated from Stormwater Management Utility Fund Capital Project accounts, Gainesville Regional Utilities, and other partnerships as determined by the City.
Recommendation
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