BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded $16.8 million to Bonita Springs Wednesday to fund repairs to the city’s stormwater infrastructure.
DeSantis said the city incurred major impacts from Hurricane Irma in 2017, and the grant money will go toward improving 2.5 miles of stormwater infrastructure along Terry Street.
Recommended Videos
[TRENDING: $25M fraud scheme involving Orlando sisters featured in IRS’ most-shocking cases of 2021 | Norwegian ship based at Port Canaveral among numerous cancellations | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
“I think it was several feet of standing water in the area back in September of 2017, and so these improvements with this money will help reduce future flood damage,” DeSantis said. “It’ll ensure first responders can access residents in need during a storm and will make sure the health of the Imperial river here in Bonita Springs does not severely degrade after a storm.”
The governor said the grant will also fund the construction of a “safe, multi-use path connecting residents with schools, churches and community areas” in Bonita Springs.
Dane Eagle, secretary of the Department of Economic Opportunity, said the money was the latest award recommended by the DEO’s Office of Long-Term Resiliency and there were more grants to come.
“Bonita Springs was one of the harder hit areas when it came to flooding, (I could) see the water standing for weeks, and this award is going to help them complete that project to make sure that that is a thing of the past,” Eagle said. “When these awards come in, they’ve got to score out independently, we can’t just pick them out of a pot and say, ‘Let’s do this one,’ so we’re glad to see this come out on the other end.”