RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — The city of Riviera Beach is facing a new hurdle in its efforts to build a new water treatment facility after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed $750,000 in state funding for the multi-million dollar facility.
WPTV's Joel Lopez is working through the numbers and the potential impact this could have on the future of the site.
Banners and fencing along Blue Heron Blvd are bringing new hope for Riviera Beach's drinking water. Local residents express optimism about the future.
"The new plant is the best thing that's happened in Riviera," said one resident. "Cause the old plant has been there a long time and you have to change."
Change has been a long time coming for Beverly Cummings, who has lived in Riviera Beach for 50 years. "Yeah you need a new water plant," she asserted. "You have to upgrade everything— you upgrade your cars, you upgrade your clothes, and water is most important. We have a beautiful city and they're keeping it clean. And now we have to get the water clean."
Despite the pressing need for upgrades, an important project has lost out on $750,000 in state funding after the veto by Governor DeSantis.
"It's overdue, should've been done a long time ago," said Motilal Thackoor, another resident of Riviera Beach for the last 50 years.
He expressed concerns over the financial burden that may fall on residents to compensate for the loss. "That's a lot of money," he stated. "Hopefully, they'll figure something out. You don't want to go for people's taxes, taxes are already high right now."
Our team has stayed on top of the city's troubled drinking water for years, including reports last week when WPTV’s Ethan Stein highlighted that the city missed a deadline for starting construction on the site for the second time.
Riviera Beach
City misses another deadline on $400M water treatment plant
In search of clarity, our team turned to Mayor Douglas Lawson for answers on how the veto will impact this project. "We're very disappointed but we respect the process. We're currently on track and we're looking for all funding streams and all funding sources without having to impact our taxpayers," said Lawson.
Over the last five years, the city has requested about $11 million in state funding to pay for the estimated $400 million project.
"Are you worried this veto will impact future requests for funding?" asked Lopez.
"The message is we're going to keep pushing forward," Lawson responded. "We're one city united to move the city forward. We've been advocating for the last five years from this diocese to make sure we get funding from the state level and we're not going to stop here. This didn't just impact Riviera Beach but the entire state: $600-Million on a total level."
Lawson said they've already secured about $33-million in local, state and grant funding throughout the country.
They've also invested $43-million into wells, with 8 wells under construction, and $17 million into design work.
The project is currently expected to be completed in spring 2029.
