Grants continue to roll in for Longboat Key

The town of Longboat Key has many projects it would like to take on, but limited funds to do so.

That’s where Kalee Shaberts comes in. The town’s grants coordinator is relatively new in her position, beginning in July 2023. Since then, she has helped bring in tens of millions of dollars to the town.

“Grants are kind of behind the scenes most of the time, but they do help improvements in our community,” Shaberts said.

In the current fiscal year, which began in October, the town has already received $13.3 million in grants. That’s more than double fiscal year 2025, and most, $9.6 million, comes from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s State Revolving Fund for the town’s subaqueous wastewater pipe replacement. The town also received a $3 million federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to purchase the pipeline itself. The grant comes after years of efforts by the town to secure state and federal funds for the project that is set to begin construction in June.

“This is that $3 million appropriation that they have talked about from FY23. The last two years I’ve talked about this and I’ve talked about how appropriations get awarded to us, but we still have to do all of the paperwork to get those grants. It’s a lot of paperwork, a lot of documentation you have to do, environmental reviews. You have to make sure your budget is accurate,” Shaberts said. “So we finally got awarded that grant, which is kind of a big deal because it took a couple years to get there.”

But receiving a grant isn’t the end of the story for Shaberts and town staff. There’s a lot of work that follows.

“Managing those awards is a whole nother task,” she said.

Responsibilities for grant awardees include continuous communication with the grant manager, completing financial documentation, quarterly reporting and communicating with funding agencies and consultants.

There’s also a lift when it comes to applying for the grants. Shaberts explained in a presentation to the Longboat Key Town Commission three broad steps are necessary: identifying, coordinating and preparing.

The first step is to identify projects the town could use grants to pay for, and then matching those needs with grants, whether from federal, state or local sources. Then, there is coordination. The finance department must coordinate with relevant departments on their needs and how and when funding would be secured. Last is preparation for the grants, including coming up with the project scope, schedule and cost estimates.

“Trying to develop an estimate for a project before you put pen to paper, and then asking a grant agency for money can be a challenge,” Assistant Town Manager Isaac Brownman said. “We’re pretty confident when we ask for the design money. We have a number in mind when we’re seeking construction. We have to go back to the grant agency at the conclusion of design, seek the dollars that are actually needed for construction, and oftentimes what we’re finding is the grant agency says that’s great, now I want you to re-evaluate your entire cost benefit analysis all over again. We’re learning that with the resiliency projects. We’re in a better position now on our future projects, both on the front end on the preliminary estimating side and one the back end to prepare for refining a cost benefit analysis.”

The town is now looking ahead at new potential grant opportunities, including for channel markers and Fire Rescue boat lifts. The 2027 fiscal year grant window opens in March for many agencies.