BRADENTON BEACH – Community Redevelopment Agency members discussed the proposed 2025-26 budget of $2,231,070 at a work meeting on Aug. 6 in preparation for the next steps in the budget process – two public hearings before final approval.
City Treasurer Shayne Thompson introduced the proposed budget.
“We carried some things forward that were in last year’s budget, for example, some undergrounding and pavers,” he said. “Beyond that, it’s kind of placeholders for the projects to come.”
CRA Vice Chair Ralph Cole said he would like to see the undergrounding projects continue.
Thompson said $300,000 for undergrounding from the previous year’s budget was carried forward.
“I don’t want to say placeholder values can change, but direction can change, priorities can change, so what’s in the budget doesn’t necessarily mean it has to stay where it is,” Thompson said. “If during the course of the year, let’s say, for example, undergrounding isn’t something we can accomplish, those funds can remain for a future time or be reallocated to a new priority project.”
Thompson said some projects such as pier improvements became tied to the storms and were funded differently.
“Do we still have to allocate all that money 100% each year?” Cole asked.
“We have to demonstrate the need to use the funds,” Thompson said. “This budget does that.”
Police Chief and Public Works Director John Cosby outlined some proposed projects in the CRA district, particularly on Bridge Street.
“We have an unbelievable amount of foot traffic in the CRA district, and we need to look at widening the sidewalks in the main thoroughfare areas,” Cosby said.
Cosby discussed building projects from the ground up beginning with wiring for lighting, irrigation systems and then moving on to the next level including paving, concrete and sidewalks.
“In the past we’ve put stuff in and had to dig it out and we don’t want to do that,” Cosby said. “We want to revitalize what we have there and try to make it more pedestrian friendly.”
Cosby suggested scheduling a work meeting to get input from residents and businesses.
“The hurricane has taken so much out it does give us the opportunity to do this,” he said. “You can see the age of the street when you look at how nice the pier is and the docks and the pergola and you look at the rest of the street and that age really comes out.”
Cosby addressed flooding in the district following heavy rains.
“The rain that we had yesterday that lasted 45 minutes, everything in the CRA district was underwater and it’s because of the system that was put in. The pipe is clogged, and we’ve got to clear that out. We had a conversation with our stormwater engineer about putting in the baskets to collect the silt. It may not look pretty for a little while because we’ve got to get started from the bottom and work our way up.”
Mayor John Chappie said the CRA board could talk about putting out an RFP (request for proposal) at a future meeting.
“Maybe not all in one year or two years, but we could plan that out in stages,” Chappie said. “In the budget we have $675,000 for the CRA enhancements and another $450,000 for district improvements along with the $300,000 for undergrounding and streetlights. There’s quite a nice amount of money in there.”
Chappie said undergrounding has never been on the back burner.
“It’s always been in the forefront and that’s part of the foundation before you start doing the other work on top of the ground,” he said.
“If we have a project that can’t be completed in the coming fiscal year we can plug it into the budget for the following, so we’re still demonstrating using it at a future time,” Thompson said.
CRA member Deborah Scaccianoce said that standing water in the district is a problem and she would like to take steps to move forward with repairs.
“Yesterday when it was raining and with the blockages on Bridge Street, the water was bubbling up out of the storm system because it was so overwhelmed,” Cosby said. “Everything that way is blocked and I want to use that money to fix what’s broken before we move forward and put money into other areas.”
He said the standing water will eventually undermine the roads.
“The pipes are good; the main issue is this damming system that was put in to try to force the water to flow slower and percolate into the ground,” Cosby said. “We’re on a barrier island – that’s not going to happen. When we get that fixed that will take care of that.”
Two public hearings will be held in September for the fiscal year 2025-26 CRA budget prior to final approval.
