November’s CDD meeting was the first since Hurricane Milton, so it was no surprise to have a large audience in attendance. The majority of residents were from the Bridges, anxious to speak to the board about the six flooded homes on Bayboro Bridge Drive. Michael Dansereau spoke earnestly on behalf of residents, imploring the board to explain what would be done to alleviate the flooding of Pond 125. Another resident described the dramatic impact that the storm had had and how upsetting it was to see his neighbors’ belongings outside on the street. Chairman Matt Lewis told said, he “hated to hear this” and reassured them that the CDD Board of Supervisors planned to take “immediate action.” He reminded the audience that last month the board had approved their engineer to take a survey of the pond. Mr. Dansereau reported that, over the years, they had received promises of surveys and engineers’ plans. To give the audience some context, Supervisor Chris Barrett explained that the lake was only acquired by the Westchase CDD in 2018 to ensure that any concerns pertaining to the pond would be listened to. Barrett recognized that a complete investigation into Montague’s drainage system was required as the area had been impassable for a couple of days following the storm. Sylvia Johnson from Radcliffe informed the board that this was not just a problem unique to the Bridges; her yard was often sodden by the pond dividing Radcliffe and The Shires and the road was routinely flooded. Barrett again pressed that these issues needed to be prioritized. The board listened to many more emotional stories from residents about the impacts of the recent storms and Supervisor Greg Chesney then invited Engineer Robert Dvorak to give his feedback.
Dvorak went into some detail on the history of the land, how the piping connected across county land and the TECO easement and how the legacy infrastructure had not been designed to withstand the amount of rain that the area had collected. His main point was that the CDD had no ability to improve how fast the drainage leaves the pond behind Bayboro Drive. In the short term, the CDD could protect buildings by building up the berm surrounding the pond, but this would not prevent 16’’ of rain from saturating yards and flooding homes. In the longer term, a solution would have to come from a multi-agency approach: Hillsborough County, TECO and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). Dvorak confirmed that he would meet with SFWMD on behalf of the CDD. Barrett reassured residents that the board would not oppose the building of the berm and they would support the engineer in his efforts to engage the other agencies. It was decided that the meeting would officially continue the following week in order to review the bids and proposals for the short-term solutions. Barrett ended the discussion by reiterating how sorry the board was for the losses experienced by residents.
A new resident to the Shires, Marlon Santos, requested some background information on the Cell Tower recently completed. Chairman Lewis explained that it had been a long process that had developed with Vertex over the past four to five years. During Covid, the board felt there was a safety issue where some residents had little or no cell phone reception. He assured Mr. Santos that the board had worked closely with a consultant to obtain the best financial deal with the developer. Attorney Erin McCormick confirmed that two carriers, T-Mobile and AT&T, were subletting the tower and the first would be putting up their antenna in the next few weeks.
Frequent golfer, John Russo from Greensprings, was unhappy to report the abuse he and other golfers had experienced from residents shouting at them as they played. Barrett explained that it is an HOA covenant that oversees the rights of golfers, and it should be that body that informed the residents of those rights. Supervisor Reggie Gillis felt that this board should be bothered when residents were being aggressive to one another and he made a motion to request that the HOA clarify their position on the signage used on the golf course. Lewis remembered that here had been an article in the WOW outlining the covenants and thought it would be useful to have it published again.
After an affecting couple of hours, the board quickly caught up on other reports. Field Manager, David Sylvanowicz confirmed that all storm debris had now been collected from homes. The effort had been completed by CDD staff, Red Tree and two other vendors, with another contractor removing the debris from CDD property. Barrett offered a sincere thank you to Sylvanowicz and his team for their extraordinary hard work following the storms. Sylvanowicz was pleased to report that the West Park Village Plaza renovation was near completion following a successful walk through. The ribbon cutting has been rescheduled for December 6 at 6:30 p.m. during the next WOW Food Truck rally. And lastly, the board was very happy to pass a motion recruiting Sherida Cook to the CDD staff. Sherida had been shadowing Office Manager Sonny Whyte over the last few months and was integral to the effort following the hurricanes.
The meeting continued on November 19. Supervisors Lewis, Barrett and Wimsatt attended. Chesney called into the meeting and Gillis was unable to attend.
Seven homeowners from Bayboro Bridge were in attendance. Lewis turned the floor over to Dvorak, who had a presentation prepared on the proposed short-term solution to mitigate future flooding. Dvorak proposed the construction of a 19.5” berm beyond the fence line. He added that the berm would not obstruct views and would be sodded and maintained by the CDD. He said the purpose of the berm is to help keep the pond from flooding into yards. In addition, his plan involved adding a drainage system with three collection areas along the berm to help keep water from pooling in yards. Dvorak said the ideal time for construction of the berm would be a peak dry season in late March/April.
The issue, he explained, is that there is currently no easement. The CDD would therefore need to establish and easement and obtain a right of use permit to allow for regular maintenance of the berm. Dvorak said that with the board’s permission, he would have a surveyor write up a legal description that McCormick could then use to establish the easement and right of way permit.
Dvorak said the other step needed to establish an easement would be to get approval from the two homeowners on either side of the proposed easement. The Dansareaus noted they were one of those homeowners and said they could reach out to the other homeowner to fill them in on the situation.
Lynn Dansareau inquired whether the berm and drainage system would be considered a short-term solution and, if so, was there a long-term solution in the works. Lewis said the board would need to put their heads together to establish a long-term solution.
Lynn asked whether they had considered pumping water from the pond. Dvorak said that he and Sylvanowicz had actually done an experiment regarding the effectiveness and learned it was a viable solution, but he would need to work with officials from the county and SWFMD to ensure it the pumping would not create issues with other properties.
Lynn also said she had inquired about permit information for the townhomes behind Davidsen Middle School and had not heard back from Inframark. Dvorak explained that they did not keep those records on file but that he would share a link with homeowners where they could look up all permitting activity in the county.
Greens Voting Member Steve Splaine asked Dvorak to clarify how he arrived at the 19.5” mark and if it would make sense to make it taller. Dvorak explained that the higher the berm, the longer it would need to be for drainage purposes. He added that 19.5” was also higher than the 100-year flood mark.
Resident Graham Smith asked if there was any knowledge as to how often the drainage pipes on the Teco Easement were cleared. Dvorak said he was not sure, but he could ask. Lewis asked Dvorak about the costs associated with the berm, and Dvorak said he would work on getting an estimate. It would fall under the $300,000 mark, so no formal RFP would be required. They would simply need to get multiple bids.
Following the discussion, Barrett moved that Dvorak request a survey to negotiate the easement for the berm.
In his report, Sylvanowicz offered an update on the concerns with flooding in yards and streets in Radcliffe. He said that he learned the pond between The Shires and Radcliffe doesn’t drain into the wetlands. Barrett asked if there is any solution to keep water out of backyards in Radcliffe. Sylvanowicz said that he spoke with the county and they did not believe that debris in the pipes is a concern and that he would look to Dvorak for a solution. Dvorak then said he would look at the area.
Whyte added that the county had hired an engineering firm with a four-year contract to study all flooding in the county. She said WCA Government Affairs Chair Rick Goldstein was setting up a meeting with the county.
