"Alligator Ron" Bergeron signed a $25 million no-bid construction contract with the South Florida Water Management District more than a week after Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped him for the district's board.

Bergeron signed the contract calling for Bergeron Land Development Inc. to complete the district's work on a stormwater treatment area in western Martin County on Feb. 6.

The latest:Ethics panel may have final say whether 'Alligator Ron' Bergeron can serve on SFWMD board

DeSantis said he "would like to appoint" Bergeron, a western Broward County developer and former member of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission from 2007 to 2017, to the district board during a Jan. 29 ceremony in Fort Lauderdale.

But as of Tuesday afternoon, Bergeron's picture was not among the other DeSantis appointees on the district website.

Bergeron's appointment is still "under review" to determine whether he "has any conflict of interest that might impede the work he would need to do" on the board, DeSantis spokeswoman Helen Ferre said late Tuesday afternoon.

More: Read the contract between Bergeron and the SFWMD

“He’s obviously a very successful businessman, he wants everything to be transparent, so he has insisted on conducting a conflict review with his attorneys, and that’s fine," DeSantis said of Bergeron at the Jan. 29 announcement. "As soon as that’s done — I don’t think there’s going to be any issue — this Broward seat is open and I will sign the order to put him on.”

More: DeSantis appoints Bergeron to SFWMD board

Brand new board

On Jan. 10, DeSantis asked all the district's board members to resign.

All of the district's board members appointed by former Gov. Rick Scott have resigned or had their terms expire. All of the board members at the March 14 meeting will be DeSantis appointees.

Timeline:DeSantis vs. SFWMD

"I know Mr. Bergeron has been going to great lengths to make sure he has no conflicts," said Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, appointed Feb. 21 by DeSantis to represent Martin and St. Lucie counties on the board. "If this is a conflict of interest, I hope he does the right thing."

More: DeSantis appoints Thurlow-Lippisch to SFWMD board

Thurlow-Lippisch declined further comment "until I know where things stand."

Bergeron did not return a phone call or reply to questions emailed to his office.

Wide-ranging business

Bergeron is founder and CEO of the Bergeron Family of Companies, a business that includes interests in farming, road building, real estate development, waste management and disaster recovery.

DeSantis said he chose Bergeron to help lead the district because of his experience working with state and federal officials on environmental issues.

More:Gov. Ron DeSantis focuses on water, environment during State of the State address

That same day, Bergeron said he plans to do a thorough review of Everglades projects built since 2000 to make sure they’ve been constructed properly.

“If we can send someone to the moon in a rocket ship, we ought to be able to save our planet,” Bergeron said.

Bergeron's company built some of those projects, including the $79 million expansion of Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West designed to clean water heading into the Arthur A. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and the Everglades completed in January.

TCPalm has requested copies of all the contracts between the district and Bergeron's companies.

Water-cleaning project

The C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area is a massive state-and-federal project designed to store and clean water before it reaches the St. Lucie River.

The district had awarded Blue Goose Construction a $100 million contract to build the project's 6,300-acre stormwater treatment area — basically a massive man-made marsh to clean water — in September 2004. The Army Corps of Engineers is charged with building the project's reservoir.

More:Massive C-44 project will benefit St. Lucie River estuary

The district fired fired Blue Goose on Nov. 7, alleging the Fort Pierce company fell behind schedule on the project, slated to be completed in 2021.

Blue Goose has sued the district, alleging wrongful termination.

More:Fired C-44 STA contractor sues water district; will it delay project?

The district estimates completing the project would cost about $25 million, the amount of the contract with Bergeron's company.

TCPalm politics reporter Ali Schmitz contributed to this report.