- March 18, 2025
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The town of Longboat Key is ready to move forward with the next steps in the subaqueous force main replacement project, which includes finalizing the design and, now with voter approval, pursuing a loan.
This project will replace about 2 miles of underwater wastewater pipe that transports Longboat Key’s wastewater to a processing facility in Manatee County.
When cost estimates rose in early 2024, the town commission hoped to pursue a State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan of up to $33 million to finance the project. The loan option, though, required the town to go through the referendum process and put the decision in the voters’ hands.
The referendum in the March election passed with overwhelming support. Out of 1,632 votes cast, 94.79% of voters approved of the loan option and 5.21% said “no.”
Assistant Town Manager Isaac Brownman said the vote was essential to moving forward with the loan application process, but did not alter the town’s design timeline.
“The immediate next steps are really unchanged from what they were before the referendum vote," Brownman said. “(The vote) did not slow or stop the design process.”
Brownman added the town and its consultants are working through questions with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) regarding minor modifications to the existing construction permit.
According to Brownman’s estimate, the project team is at about 70% design.
The town’s project team includes Carollo Engineers for the design and engineering phase, and Garney Construction to manage construction. Water and wastewater projects are hallmarks of both companies.
Permits are already in hand after a long, tedious process that spanned from 2021 to 2023. Agencies like the FDEP and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers need to issue permits on projects like this that relate to the bay.
Brownman said once the town gets through the questions and potential modifications with FDEP, the design process will advance.
The next steps in the project also now include the SRF loan application, which grants loans for water-related projects.
“We’re comfortable and confident that our project will not have any issues being granted with this,” Brownman said about the loan. “But there is a process behind it. Now that the loan has passed, the project team is marching down the path of preparing the application documents.”
Other steps include negotiations for easements with Long Bar Pointe, the area where the subaqueous pipe ties into the mainland site, and updated geotechnical data to better understand the soils under the construction site.
There will also be environmental and seagrass mitigation work required because of the project’s invasiveness to the bay. This will take place after construction is complete.
Excluding the mitigation work, Brownman estimated the project construction will last 14 to 15 months. Brownman said there was not yet an estimated start for the project, but the project team hopes to finish the design in 2026.
