Naples approves the River Park East design deal behind a $38.2 million infrastructure plan

Naples City Council approved a $2.03 million design agreement for a broad renewal of streets, drainage and utilities in River Park East. WINK News reporter Bridget Bruchalski reported Monday that residents of the historic neighborhood have sought flood relief for years.

The approval covers engineering, permitting and bid preparation. It is not a construction award.

What Naples approved for River Park East

The city's September 8 agenda memorandum puts the professional services agreement with Pape-Dawson Consulting Engineers at $2,031,448.

The scope covers Fifth Avenue North from Goodlette-Frank Road east to its end. It also covers 13th Street North and 14th Street North from Fifth Avenue North to their ends.

The agreement calls for data collection, public input, staged design work and support when the city seeks construction bids. The city also wants the design to address streets, stormwater, potable water, sanitary sewer, reclaimed water and related public infrastructure.

The city says the drainage design should handle peak flow under a 25-year, three-day storm model. It also calls for resilience planning based on future tailwater conditions or conditions observed during Hurricane Irma, whichever standard is more demanding.

Where the $38.2 million figure comes from

The design agreement and the planned construction money are separate.

Naples assigned $2,031,448 to design, permitting and bid support. The city's fiscal 2026-27 budget packet places another $36.2 million in fiscal 2027-28 for River Park East construction.

That planned amount consists of $22.2 million for streets and stormwater through the Community Redevelopment Agency, $6 million for water distribution and $8 million for wastewater collection.

Together, the design agreement and planned construction allocations total about $38.23 million. The capital plan does not itself award the construction work, and the stormwater table leaves a separate River Park East amount to be determined.

What happens next

Pape-Dawson will prepare the design and permitting package before the city can seek construction bids. The approved agreement does not name a construction contractor or set a final completion date.

For River Park East residents, the immediate change is that the project has moved from a capital plan into paid engineering work. The larger construction phase remains planned for a later fiscal year and will require its own procurement steps.