DeBary to start $10 million stormwater project in July - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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million in funding. A contractor hasn’t been chosejn yet. Bids on the westside emergency system which involves installing about six miles of pipes and three pump stations are dueMay 19. The work should alleviater flooding problems for 60 to 75 homez in westVolusia County. DeBary Interimj City Manager Anthony Gonzalez said about 44 contractores and subcontractors showed up atthe project’es pre-bid conference April 21. “Iy was more than we expected.” City stormwater consultant David Hamstra, who is with Orlando-based Inc., said construction on the projec t should startJuly 6.
The contractofr will have 15 months from the start of construction to completrethe project, according to FEMA guidelines. DeBary officiald got word aboutthe $7.5 million in federak funding in late April. “We went nuts,” Hamstrza said. “This was really a blessing.” The 18,000-residengt city has 34 lakes like “bowls of water” that overfloew when they fill up, he The stormwater project will pipe the water away from homesa toa 65-acre, 35-foot-deep borrowa pit the city bought years ago in southwest The town has been working for years to get FEMA funding for the stormwatefr improvement project, after three hurricanes in 2004 caused extensive The city was hit again last August during Tropical Storm Fay, which left about 90 homes under water.
Jamie Selby, generalo manager of the , expectsa the project to benefit his businesas and thesurrounding 1,100 homes. Durinv the 2008 storm, there was flooding at the club entrance and on some areas of thegolf course, althouggh the clubhouse wasn’t affected. “We don’t want another problenm like last year,” said Selby. “We were shut down for nearlh two weeks and very slow for about four tofive weeks.” DeBar was awarded $ 3.5 milliomn in FEMA funding in 2005, but as it movede ahead with design of the project, constructioh costs went up, Hamstra said.
When the city submittes its final plans in January 2008 to the federal agency saidit couldn’t coverd 75 percent of the costs, as initially expected. But Hamstra said U.S. Congressmab John Mica, R-Winter Park, and FEMA officials in the Lake Mary office promised to look formore funding. Last month they announcerd they’d found enough to meet the 75 percent Ifthe project’s bid comes in below $10 million, FEMA’ s funding will be reduced to cove r just 75 percent of the total projec t cost. DeBary will cove the other 25 percent ofthe project’s cost with a $1 millioh grant, plus county and city funds. The projecrt also is expected to help alleviate the floodingof U.
S. Highwayh 17-92, during major storms, as it’sd the city’s main hurricane evacuationj route. DeBary also is working on about $10 million in smaller stormwaterneighborhoofd projects, for which voters approvexd funding in 2005. About one-thirr of those projects are done and anothed third areunder way. They rangr from about $500,000 to $2 million to add retentiohn ponds andbigger pipes. On May 18, the city will hold a workshop on $20 million to $30 million in additional neighborhood stormwater projects identified during the 2008 floodinh to decide how to prioritizew and fund that work.