County approves assessment for Kings Point dredging

PANAMA CITY — A dredging project in Kings Point allowing better boating navigation through canals in the Pretty Bayou area is complete, but until Tuesday the $719,813 bill for the work was outstanding.
The bill now will be paid in full with the help of an assessment on property owners, a move the Bay County Commission endorsed at their meeting Tuesday.
The 114 homeowners who live on canals in the neighborhood soon will be billed about $5,008 each after the commission approved the final assessment roll. The county is pitching in $113,670 toward the project, and Panama City is paying $56,835.
County Commissioner Bill Dozier explained after the meeting the canals have been the repository for sediment that flows off the roads, so there was a public purpose in dredging the canals. That’s why the county and city are pitching in public dollars, he said.
“The county has a number of outfalls that flow into the canals, so we contribute to the issue of them needing to be dredged,” he said. “We use the canals basically as a place to put sediment.”
The commission approved of the Kings Point Dredging Municipal Services Benefit Unit in May 2013 after residents lobbied for the project. As such, the county assesses residents for the work, which can be paid in a lump sum or over 10 years in annual installments at a 4.25 percent interest rate.
The commission on Aug. 5 tabled the issue after resident Edward Seaman pointed out the overall cost has come in higher than one promised by county officials before the work.
The $8,166 increase from the original project cost estimate increased the assessment by about $71 for each property owner. Seaman did not comment at Tuesday’s meeting.
But resident Michael Sears did, urging the commission to move ahead with the final assessment roll as the residents have agreed to cover the additional $8,166 cost. He said the fact that the project ended up coming in so close to the initial estimate is a tremendous accomplishment for the contractor.
“This was a substantial, massive project that we underwent,” he said.
Sears also said that seven years ago bids on the project came in over $1 million, which would have meant homeowners would have had to pay between $10,000 and $20,000.
“All efforts were made to keep this within budget,” he said. “We had cost savings, unbelievable cost savings.”
County Commission Chairman Guy Tunnell said this is an example of a successful citizens’ initiative that was “very efficient.”
Commissioner Mike Thomas said in the future when these projects are being discussed there should be some contingency fund in case there is a cost overrun.
“It’s hard to get that close [in cost estimates] on this kind of project,” he said.