Winter Park Commission to consider how to fix storm flooding

The idea of floating new bonds emerged at a work session last month, but an increase in stormwater fees already in motion may do the trick

Nov. 22, 2024

By Beth Kassab

When commissioners meet next month for their final meeting of the year, they are likely to consider one of the city’s most pressing ongoing problem: how to control flooding highlighted by a series of major storms in recent years.

City staff is finishing recommendations for where to start when it comes to a list of as much as $40 million worth of proposed fixes in Winter Park and, in some cases, extending into neighboring Orlando, Orange County and Seminole County.

Those include running new pipes to connect lakes to better manage heavy downpours, replacing culverts and expanding ditches.

Such projects may not make for the most compelling City Commission debates — they are the kind of thing most residents don’t think about until they can’t drive down a street because of flooding or until they can see lake levels rising and threatening homes and businesses.

But it’s that nitty gritty of local government that has proven crucial to hurricane recovery and quality of life, especially in the wake of Hurricane Ian in 2022 and then Milton and Helene this year.

“There is politics and people can disagree on politics,” said Charles Ramdatt, director of Public Works and Transportation at a City Commission work session last month. “But science is science and what we observe is reality. And there’s no disagreement that we’re getting more frequent storm events. We have more frequent major events as well.”

Specific projects and estimated costs were identified in three studies the city paid for to determine ways to improve how stormwater is stored and managed.

They include $4.6 million to add a pump station and expand Lake Mendsen at MLK Park just outside the Library & Events Center. Surrounding neighborhoods have routinely seen flooding after storms. There’s also the idea of running a pipe (estimated at nearly $600,000) to connect Lake Mendsen to Lake Rose, the former Winter Park sinkhole just a few blocks away at the corner of Fairbanks Avenue and Denning Drive, which is known to flood at times.

Also on the list are about $600,000 worth of improvements to Lake Killarney. And there are multiple proposed lake connection such as from Lake Knowles to Lake Maitland (at $2.2 million) and Lake Grace to Lake Forest and Lake Sue (at more than $2 million).

In some cases, neighboring Orlando or the counties could contribute to the cost of the fixes.

Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said at the recent workshop that she wants to make sure the projects truly make a difference in the places where people have experienced storm flooding.

“I’m very concerned because I’m not sure how these fixes are going to fix the flooding on Morse (Boulevard) or Denning …  into streets and homes,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s enough.”

Ramdatt said aging infrastructure is also part of the problem and told commissioners his department will soon have its own diagnostic equipment to help locate leaky underground pipes or other concerns.

“It’s like doing a cardiac cath,” he said, likening the investigations to when a doctor examines heart valves for leaks or blockages and makes fixes to improve the patient’s health and heart efficiency. “So we’re going to do that analysis to understand those and fix those.”

Commissioners also considered how residents will pay for the improvements.

In some cases, the newly expanded Community Redevelopment Agency — which is allowed to hold on to tax dollars that would otherwise go to Orange County — can pay for some projects, particularly on the west side of the city near Fairbanks and Interstate 4 and in the central business corridor.

Some commissioners said they were in favor of also asking voters to approve issuing new bonds to cover the expenses. But there likely wouldn’t be enough time to get the question on the March ballot, when two commission seats are also up for election and voters will decide on whether to keep the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.

Knight said it’s possible the higher stormwater fees already approved by the commission will be enough to pay for the projects. Residents started paying an extra penny last year and will go up again by a penny next year. Those payments generated $700,000 the first year and an estimated $1.4 million this year.

The fees are calculated on the amount of impervious surface (generally concrete) on a homeowner’s lot at 7 cents per square foot this year.

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