At the March 27, 2023 City Commission meeting, the Environment and Sustainability Department presented a final Assessment of Water Quality for the Park View Canal report by the University of Miami.  Following the presentation, a motion was made to refer the item to the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee (FERC) to discuss:

• Funding for improvements to address the water quality concerns relating to the Park View Island canal.
• Look for funds for retrofit, dredging of the canal, and design and replacement of aging infrastructure.
• Add funding for a study to make sure the retrofit has had a positive impact on the water quality surrounding Park View Islands.

At the April 21, 2023 FERC meeting, Committee members discussed in detail, funding needs for the Parkview Canal improvements and items that could potentially be accelerated prior to FY 2024, such as: 1) Accelerate the design for the retrofitting of the gravity stormwater outfall system (currently unfunded), in the amount of $200,000.  This amount includes the cost of the design and permitting; and 2) Accelerate the dredging of the canal that is estimated at $500,000 to complete initial surveys required for dredging (bathymetric and geotechnical) (currently funded within the Environment and Sustainability Department) and $2 million for dredging (unfunded but proposed for the FY 2024 budget). The dredging must be completed within one-year of the surveys. Both items can potentially be done in parallel.  A motion was made by Committee members to proceed with a request for a capital budget amendment in the amount of $200,000, and to bring it to the full Commission for approval.