Pensacola looks reinvest $380K in park maintenance study, Amtrak station repairs

Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal
·4 min read

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves is asking the City Council to approve reallocating federal coronavirus relief funds to pay for a study on deferred park maintenance and a study on the feasibility of a mooring field in Pensacola Bay.

The proposal would reallocate nearly $380,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds into four new projects including the two studies, a rewrite of the city's emergency management plan and a partial remodel of the former Amtrak building to prevent further deterioration.

Pensacola received $19.1 million in federal funds in 2021 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). While the entire amount has been officially allocated, the city has spent $11.4 million, leaving $7.7 million remaining. Under ARPA, the city has until the end of the year to commit to spending the funds, or they must be returned to the federal government. All the funds must be spent by the end of 2026.

The city's ARPA budget has 45 line items, including things like restoring lost revenue from the pandemic, building the skate park, updating City Council chambers, and funding a tree canopy study. One of the largest remaining question marks in the city's ARPA plan is how the city will spend the remaining $1.6 million out of the $3 million it pledged to address homelessness.

Reeves said Thursday's change to the ARPA plan won't be the last before the end of the year.

"We're working on things like homeless reduction, a low-barrier shelter with some of those dollars that are allocated in ARPA," Reeves said.

Under the current proposal, $380,000 will be reallocated from two current line items: $252,140 will be moved out of a generic "COVID expenses" line item, and $127,842 will be removed from Bayview Park erosion rehabilitation. The city spent $206,604 on addressing erosion in Bayview Park.

The deferred park maintenance study will cost $100,000 and Reeves said is the next step in the city getting a handle on its neglected maintenance problems.

Tippin Park as seen on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Pensacola is reallocating nearly $380,000, which it received from the American Rescue Plan Act, to fund several new projects, including a deferred maintenance study of city parks for $100,000 to determine in detail how far behind the city is in park maintenance.
Tippin Park as seen on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Pensacola is reallocating nearly $380,000, which it received from the American Rescue Plan Act, to fund several new projects, including a deferred maintenance study of city parks for $100,000 to determine in detail how far behind the city is in park maintenance.

"It's a big important step, and if we're ever going to have a parks master plan, this is something that needs to be done, in our team's opinion, before we would have a whole city-wide parks master plan," Reeves said.

The largest item on the new proposal is $145,449 to update the city's continuity of operations plan for emergencies. The plan ensures that the city government can continue to function in the event of a natural disaster.

Reeves also wants the city to spend $84,533 on a partial rehabilitation of the former Amtrak terminal. The city is still pursuing a federal grant to begin to return Amtrak service to the Florida Panhandle. The city-owned Amtrak building has needed repairs for years. Reeves has said previously if restoration of the train service continues to drag out, the city will examine using the building as potential office space or a customer service center.

The last item is a study to examine the feasibility of a mooring field for boats in Pensacola Bay. A mooring field is a space in the water where boats can tie up to permeant anchors known as mooring buoys for long periods of time for much lower fees than a typical marina would charge.

Reeves said the idea has been circulated for years as a way to bring more boat tourism to the city.

"For years, it's just been mentioned in town from a storm resiliency standpoint, and an accessibility to the waterfront standpoint, could that ever happen?" Reeves said. "… Instead of just talking about it at the watercooler, we could have a real 'what if', and that could include them coming back and saying it's not feasible."

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Reeves said for a relatively small amount the city will be able to find out if is feasible and begin working toward finding a way to fund it.

Reeves said that if it is feasible, it would still be a several-million-dollar project that would include a breakwater to protect the mooring field in the deep waters of Pensacola Bay.

"That's a significant lift, but if we want to say get grant funding for it, we can't just stay at the watercooler," Reeves said. "We would have to say here's the feasibility study, here's some design."

The City Council will vote on the proposal at its 5 p.m. meeting at City Hall on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola looks to study park repairs and mooring boats in the bay