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Sarasota News Leader May 3, 2013 Page 54 SWFWMD BOARD DELAYS SIESTA STORMWATER PROJECT DISCUSSION The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) Governing Board did not discuss additional grant funding for the Siesta Beach stormwater project when it met this week, The Sarasota News Leader has learned. water before it is discharged into the Gulf of Mexico. The goal of the initiative is to prevent future "No Swimming" postings at the beach as a result of unhealthful levels of bacteria linked to stormwater runoff. "The additional funding request by Sarasota County was not presented at the Governing Board's April meeting because staff was still gathering information to fully evaluate the request," Public Information Officer Susanna Martinez Tarokh told the News Leader by email on May 1. Eastwood told the commission on April 23, "So far, the discussions have been positive" with SWFWMD staff about increasing the amount of the grant. Eastwood said she expected the request to be addressed when the Governing Board met on April 30. Tarokh added in her email, "The District now has all necessary information and we are coordinating with the County to determine if this will be an item for the governing board to consider in May." When the County Commission voted on April 23 to award the $4,550,683.28 project to Forsberg Construction Inc. of Punta Gordon, Program Manager Carolyn Eastwood said staff was working with SWFWMD to increase the That meeting will be held Tuesday, May 21, grant funding the organization already had Tarokh noted. committed. Rachel Brown Hackney Because of consultants' errors in estimating the cost of the project, the bid award was about $3 million above the projected expense of $1.5 million, staff has explained. SWFWMD had committed up to $975,000 for the work, which is designed to treat storm- The County Commission is hopeful it will get extra grant funding to pay for a new stormwater project to prevent any closure of Siesta Public Beach to swimming in the future. Photo by Rachel Hackney