Wares Creek Dredging Contract Awarded; Work Could Start In June

Work on the long-delayed could begin as early as June, officials said Thursday, after an announcement that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has successfully negotiated a contract.

The total bid amount and the winning contractor have not yet been announced.

Army Corps Project Manager Emilio Gonzalez said in a news release that the bid was awarded under the 8(a) Program, a Small Business Administration program intended to provide assistance to economically and/or socially disadvantaged business owners.

“We’ve been trying to do this for years and we were finally able to successfully negotiate the contract,” Gonzalez said in the release. “You’ll see things happening and equipment mobilizing by the end of June. There are a lot of things that have to be done upfront, but this is very exciting.”

Gonzalez said the contract will be awarded on the week of May 23. After that, the contractor typically gives a notice to proceed one month later. If that timetable holds true, construction could begin by the end of June or early July.

 The federal government will pay for $21.2 million of the $45.5 million project, which residents and officials have been expecting for more than 25 years as a means of flood control for the historic Bradenton neighborhoods that surround the creek. Southwest Florida Water Management District will match the $11 million Manatee County is paying. The City of Bradenton will use a Department of Environmental Protection grant to reimburse Manatee County for up to $1 million.

"It is very satisfying to see that the diligence and steadfast support of the Board of County Commissioners has finally paid off in the form of a project partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers to protect property and save lives under a flood control project for all of Wares Creek,” said Charlie Hunsicker, director of the county's Natural Resources Department, who has spearheaded the project on the local level for several years.

Bradenton City Councilman Patrick Roff, whose Ward 3 includes many of the neighborhoods adjacent to the creek, said the first phase of the project that will be handled by the contractor is expected to cost around $4 million.

One small precursor to the dredging was taken two weeks ago, when a of the creek, the first work that had been done in years.

For more information on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project, call (904) 232-2234.