Posted on June 27, 2019
The money is part of a $91 billion budget signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday.
ROYAL PALM BEACH — The village will receive half a million dollars for a canal rehabilitation project as part of the $91 billion budget signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday.
Democratic state Sen. Bobby Powell, whose district includes Royal Palm Beach, spoke Thursday night at the Village Council meeting about the possibility of Royal Palm Beach getting the money for the project.
“We asked for $500,000 and we actually got $500,000, so we were able to do very well there for Royal Palm Beach,” Powell said.
The money will go toward dredging the canals in Royal Palm Beach that are most in need, village engineer Chris Marsh said.
Over the past 50 years, sediment and decaying vegetation has starting to clog the village’s waterways, he said.
“You have a layer of muck essentially on the bottom of our canals,” Marsh said.
The decomposed matter sucks the oxygen out of the water and builds up nutrients that feed the invasive weeds Royal Palm Beach has been battling in its canal system, he said.
The project is in the very early planning stages, Marsh said. The village will evaluate its canals, identify those that are the worst and target those sections, he said.
“This will not take care of the whole system,” Marsh said.
In addition to clearing the muck out of the canals, the work also will include disposing of it, he said.
The request for Royal Palm Beach was filed in February by state Rep. Matt Willhite, D-Wellington.
Several Palm Beach County items were vetoed by DeSantis, including a request for $47,500 for an equestrian trail on North Road in Loxahatchee Groves.
Source: palmbeachpost.com
