The Project Wide Advisory Committee is exploring the pursuit of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to shore up the sagging Morse Boulevard Bridge.
Last year, PWAC members voted to move forward with a $1.7 million rock revetment project to re-enforce the embankment on which the bridge is located.
But that work will likely be postponed until late summer due to the high level of water in Lake Sumter as a result of this past September’s Hurricane Irma.
To bring down the water level, PWAC earlier this month agreed to spend $120,000 for two new custom pumps. The submersible pumps will have the ability to pump out 5,000 gallons of water per minute. It will be several weeks before they arrive and are installed.
When the lake’s water level comes down, an inspection can be performed at the embankment. If the embankment appears to have sustained damage as a result of Irma, a FEMA grant could help pay for the rock revetment project.
The Villages has already applied for millions of dollars of possible FEMA reimbursement for damage from Irma.