Windermere to spend $1.4M in stormwater improvements

Windermere Town Council unanimously approved about a $1.4 million bid for the second phase of stormwater improvements on Bessie and Butler streets.

Council members Tom Stroup and Brandi Haines were absent from the meeting Tuesday, July 8. 

The funding for the stormwater components is provided through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

The town received five bid submissions for the project.

Tonya Elliott-Moore, the assistant town manager and Public Works director, said bids under this process through the grant program require the town to take the low bid “no matter if we might like another contractor or might like what the bid had in it.”

As a result, Windermere Town Council unanimously approved Valencia Construction Group, which was the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. 

The cost for stormwater improvements on Bessie Street is $735,583.20, while the cost for Butler Street stormwater improvements is $685,019.80. The total for both streets is $1,420,603. 

Water main improvements for the streets will be deferred pending future available funding. 

Elliott-Moore said now the town sends the bid to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for approval, negotiations will start with the contractor and a schedule will be determined to see when work can begin. 

The duration is 210 days once work begins. 

“This is a FDEM (Florida Division of Emergency Management) project so it has a pretty strict schedule so we have to close it out in time,” Elliott-Moore said.

NEW TENNIS COURTS LIGHTS
Town council unanimously approved the transition to LED lights at Main Street Tennis Courts and Windermere Recreation Center in the amount of $23,722. 

The Windermere Recreation Center previously had LED lights installed on half its courts, but this project will complete the remaining upgrades. 

All existing lights at the Main Street Tennis Courts will be fully replaced with new energy-efficient LED fixtures. 

The LED upgrade aligns with the town’s sustainability goals as it is expected to improve lighting quality and reduce long-term energy and maintenance costs. 

All States Lighting Inc. was awarded the project. 

IN OTHER NEWS
• Leonard Spencer, representative for Florida State House District 45, provided a legislative update. He said the most direct example of “meaningful results” impacting Windermere and the region was securing state funding to support water infrastructure improvements and other local priorities. 

“It’s a clear return on the partnership that we’ve been able to establish between my office and this town,” he said. 

• Windermere Town Council unanimously approved the appointments of Chris Ruckia and Mike Swatkowski to the Development Review Board.