FPL drilling creates opportunity for Longboat utilities project

As construction of one early detail of Longboat Key’s underground utilities project continues, town officials are working to complete plans for the entire venture.

Town Manager Dave Bullock said Projects Manager James Linkogle saw an opportunity for the town when he learned of a Florida Power and Light plan to drill beneath Longboat Pass to replace a primary power-transmission cable.

Linkogle suggested the town use FPL’s permits and contractor, DBE Utility Services, to run a 4-inch conduit under the pass during the related drilling project. This conduit is essential for the Key’s fiber-optic connection, which is one aspect of the project. Fiber-optic lines that link small, utility-pole-mounted antennas to the broader internet infrastructure are essential for a 5G network.

Linkogle said this fiber-optic system will provide the town with a number of communication upgrades. “In reality, it’s still kind of an open door what the opportunities are,” Linkogle said.

Among the enhancements are improved cellular reception and emergency communications, as well as public Wi-Fi.

In May, commissioners approved the town staff’s recommendation to issue a $200,000 purchase order to use FPL’s permits and contractor for the Longboat Pass drilling project. On Monday, commissioners approved $95,375 to perform the same work under New Pass.

Bullock estimates that piggybacking FPL’s drilling project will have saved the town “at least a few hundred thousand dollars” on each bore, though exact savings are difficult to determine. For comparison, unrelated previous work to bore under Longboat Pass in 2014 cost about $2 million.

Linkogle expects the Longboat Pass drilling project will be finished by the end of July, and the New Pass drilling project will begin shortly after.

Meanwhile, survey work for the townwide underground utilities project is complete, Bullock said. FPL sent the town preliminary plans in May and now, CDM Smith, the town’s project manager, is reconciling the plans with actual conditions, based on first-hand observations.

Bullock said FPL is estimating costs for the project’s electrical system, while CDM is estimating costs for all other project components, such as fiber and cable systems, as well as permitting and legal costs.

Bullock hopes to have this cost information by August to adjust the cost of the entire project. The town manager also noted that town staff is developing a website to keep residents informed about the project, and he expects it to roll out by the end of summer.

In November 2015, Key voters approved $25.25 million for the Gulf of Mexico Drive phase of the underground utilities project. In March 2016, voters approved a second referendum for $23.85 million to bury utilities in the town’s neighborhoods.

While a Florida circuit court judge validated the $25.25 million bond for the GMD portion of the project, the town needs to complete the same validation process for the second bond before construction can begin, Bullock said. 

Project construction will be divided into five geographic phases, with the final phase connecting the northern and southern portions of the Key, Bullock said.

Town staff hopes to begin first phase construction by the end of 2018, Linkogle said, and the project is expected to take five years to complete. However, Bullock aims to get the process started sooner and finished earlier.