The December 3 Westchase CDD meeting began with Supervisor Jim Wimsatt and Chairman Matt Lewis taking their Oath of Office as their seats were renewed. Lewis declared that he was, “honored to be chairman” and that he would like to continue in the office. There was no opposition, and a motion was carried so that all posts on the board would remain the same.
Matt Olsen from district landscapers, Red Tree, presented his findings following a survey of the Westchase irrigation system and summarized that there were multiple problems. In particular, the clocks were in bad shape with 94 zones not hooked up to the timer system. Olsen’s initial suggestion was to rewire one third of the system, from Sheldon to Gretna Green – a project that would cost approximately $1 million. Field Manager David Sylvanowicz reiterated that the system was 30 years old and there had been “many hands” in the ground since then.
Supervisor Greg Chesney asked OLM representative Paul Woods his opinion. Woods observed that Red Tree had made two distinct propositions. The first was to make repairs following their contractual obligation to assess the current system. The second was a proposal for a capital improvement to the old system that was no longer supported by today’s technology. On the question of competitive value, Woods insisted that it made financial sense for the caretakers of the new system to be the same people who installed it.
When asked to share his recommendation, Sylvanowicz advised the board to agree for the repairs to be made now and discuss the future of the system at the next workshop.
Residents from Bayboro Drive who were affected by the storms were in attendance again to follow up with the board on their plans to alleviate future flooding from the pond behind their homes. ABC Action News was also on hand.
Engineer, Robert Dvorak explained that the idea was to build the berm up along the west bank at an elevation based on the existing grading. In the low area between the berm and houses, an easement would be created to house a pipe, allowing the water to flow out to the road to existing inlets. Resident, Michael Dansereau confirmed that there were a couple of homes that were not in agreement with the creation of a new easement. Chesney asked the residents why they were against the easement. Dansereau explained that the easement would take a significant area away from the property and restrict owners from putting up fences, etc. Lewis was concerned that without the pipe, there would be no way for the water behind the berm to exit and the residents would be stuck with standing water.
Dansereau summarized what he thought the engineer’s plan was: to level out the low spots, elevate the berm, rent or buy a pump for the rainy season with the possibility of installing a permanent automated pump. Dvorak confirmed that this was the plan. Dansereau followed up by asking when the design for the solution would begin. Lewis reminded the residents that by opposing the easement, the board would have to continue planning at the workshop in January. Bradley Dale, whose house was severely affected by the flooding, accused the board of “guessing” with experimental ideas and resident Pam Wilcox demanded action. Lewis assured residents that Dvorak and the CDD staff were working hard to come up with an affective long-term solution.
In response to residents’ understandable agitation, Sylvanowicz reminded the audience that Dvorak had offered a lot of information and shared links on how the water flows from pond 125. He assured residents that a pump was running during Hurricane Helene and right up to the evacuation order prior to Milton but he would not risk his or his staff’s safety by refueling the pumps during the storms. He also reminded the board that without further steps, water would keep flowing back into the pump, thus rendering the pump ineffective during a storm of that size. Dvorak was hopeful that the berm would still help even without the additional pipes and a motion to elevate the berm was passed 5-0.
