Federal Grant Money to Pull Boats From Valp Bayous

Those busted-up old boats sitting derelict in Valparaiso’s bayous may soon be a thing of the past – thanks to federal government grant money.

Valparaiso Police Chief Joe Hart told the Val-p city commission at March’s meeting that, in total, two boats in Boggy Bayou and another boat in Tom’s Bayou would be removed with the money provided. That pot of money also explains the supposed lethargy with which the FWC has worked to remove boats, according to Chief Hart. “hopefully [this money] will make [the process] go farther because we have such a plentiful amount of derelict vessels out there,” Chief Hart said.

Vendors had until March 9th to get their bids into the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC), which administers the grant money from the federal government.

After the FWC chooses the contractor and a purchase order is maintained – contractors have 75 days to get the vessels they are responsible for out of the water. However, a report to the Valparaiso City Commission informed them it “rarely takes that long, as the contractors are not paid until the job is completed.”