Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 11-28-2006 ‎(regular)‎ — reading text

curve of the road where the western and northern runs of Powell intersect. The curve of the road at this point is down- gradient of both the western and northern runs along Powell. In a rain event, the collected stormwater runoff is to conveyed to Don' s Bayou to the south through a series of pipes along Powell, through residential properties Road, and through unincorporated County properties before outfalling in the Bayou. Mooney flooded Shortly after purchasing the property, Mr. Lang called the PW Department to notify staff that his garage to Mr. during an intense rainfall event. At the time, I served as the Assistant Public Works Director and responded initial I noticed that the door and the molding between the Lang' s call to investigate. During my inspection, garage door and the brick showed signs of previous water damage along the bottom 1- 2 inches ( swollen garage siding wood and blistered metal). I asked Mr. Lang at the time if past flooding of the property had been disclosed at the time of purchase. He indicated to me that it had not, but that he suspected previous problems after speaking with his neighbor. From what I understand, none of the habitable space of the home flooded during the time the house was not was occupied by the previous owner, only the garage. This might explain why flooding of the property disclosed during transfer of ownership to Mr. Lang. After meeting with Mr. Lang, I passed on my findings to the Public Works Director, Thomas Murray, and the former Utilities Operations Manager, Larry McDonald. Within a few days of my initial meeting with Mr. Lang, the three of us met with Mr. Lang to further discuss his flooding concerns. Mr. McDonald provided valuable insight 11/2212006  Page 2 of3 into the history of the subdivision and the past concerns with flooding at this location. Over the past several years, the property did flood during specific high intensity, short duration, storm events. This seemed to be consistent with the experiences of Mr. Lang since his purchase of the property. Furthermore, it became evident that the garage was the only enclosed space to flood during these events, with water never entering the habitable floor space of the home ( survey data confirms that the garage actually sits slightly lower than the remaining finished floor space of the home). During this meeting, we informed Mr. Lang that we would inspect the pipeline to the south for obstructions. In addition, we also recommended that Mr. Lang construct an earthen swell from the southeast corner of the sidewalk in front of his home to his fence line along the common boundary between his home and the adjacent property, 610 Powell Drive. Some time passed between our initial visit with Mr. Lang and his next call regarding flooding. Mr. Lang called again several months later to inform staff that he was, again, experiencing flooding of his garage space. At this point, the previous City Engineer, Mr. Paul Zimmerman, met with Mr. Lang to investigate the problem. It was noted at this time that the earthen swell had never been constructed as recommended. Mr. Zimmerman, Mr. McDonald, Mr. Murray, and I discussed the issue at length following this latest complaint and began a search of historical survey data to determine if any improvements could be made to alleviate his ongoing flooding problems. In addition, Mr. McDonald dispatched the survey crew to the area to gather current survey information to determine if any of the previous elevation benchmarks had changed. The current survey information confirmed the previous elevation information compiled by Mr. McDonald over the years. During our follow- up, we informed Mr. Lang that certain improvements could be made on behalf of the City which might help alleviate some of his flooding problems. Specifically, some mid- block drainage improvements could be made quickly and inexpensively that would capture a portion of the runoff before it converged in the curve of the road adjacent to his property. Although Mr. Lang agreed to try the recommended improvements, he still felt the City should increase the pipe size of the entire drainage system all the way to the Bayou. We informed Mr. Lang that what he suggested would in all likelihood work; however, there was an enormous capital expense associated with replacing the entire drainage system and that cross- jurisdictional coordination would be necessary with the County since a portion of the line segment crossed through unincorporated areas. In our estimation, the least expensive alternative would be for the City to acquire the property through the " repetitive loss" process, if possible, and turn the property into a retention area. At the time, this option did not appeal to Mr. Lang as he and his wife were content with the home and did not want to sell. During March of this year, City crews completed the mid- block drainage improvements along the northern run of Powell Drive as suggested to Mr. Lang. The project involved the installation of two curb inlets and a connecting 16" diameter pipe to intercept the runoff traveling south down Powell before converging in the curve of the road. The rationale behind this project was to intercept the water earlier during a rainfall event and get it in the the conveyance system to make use of the available storage capacity. While I do believe this project has helped situation during certain rainfall events, the improvements have not totally eliminated the problems associated with high intensity, short duration, events such as the storm event this past Monday evening ( 3. 3" in approximately 2 hours). As we suggested some time ago, we still feel that improvements can be made by the homeowner that might prevent, or at minimum substantially reduce, further flooding. To date, these recommended improvements earthen swell along the property line) have not been made. I did speak with the Streets Superintendent, Jeff Glassburn, earlier today regarding this issue and we will work in coordination with the Public Works Department to further investigate the problem. Mr. Glassburn has a crew in the field this morning to visually inspect the entire length of the pipe network to its terminus at Don' s Bayou. Specifically, we are looking for obstructions in the pipe which might impede stormwater flow. If we do find any obstructions, we will remove them accordingly. In addition, we have pulled the historical survey data of the drainage system to calculate the flow capacity of each segment of line. Michael Beedie will perform a thorough analysis of the system to determine if flow dynamics have changed with the fill- in development over the past several years. We will work in coordination with the City Engineer on this analysis. If a bottleneck in the system does exist, it is likely in the 36" diameter concrete pipe south of Mooney Road to the Bayou. This pipe travels through unincorporated County properties which would require coordination with the County to replace. My initial evaluation is that this would be in excess of a $ 1 M CIP. I hope this provides you with a short history of where we are with this issue. I'll let you know the results of our let investigation today and what, if anything, we can do on the short term to address Mr. Lang' s concerns. Please me know if you need any additional information. John Hofstad Utilities Director 11/2212006  Page 3 of3 City of Fort Walton Beach P. O. Box 4009 Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32549 850) 833- 9904 direct line 850) 833- 9613 office 850) 833- 9690 fax itlofstad@fwb. org Original Message----- From: Joyce Shanahan Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 20063: 33 PM To: John Hofstad Subject: Powel Drive John: Please give me a call regarding 606 Powell Drive and Eric Lang. Mr. Lang has called most of Council today regarding the flooding issues he has on his property. I need to provide council with the detail on this issue and what if anything remain to be completed by the City. Thanks. Joyce Shanahan City Manager City of Fort Walton Beach, FL Phone: 850- 833- 9504 Fax: 850- 833- 9640 Cell: 850- 803- 9621 Email: ishanahan@fwb, org Please Note: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from City of Fort Walton Beach officials are public records available to the public and media upon request.Your e- mail address and communications may therefore be subject to public disclosure. 11/ 2212006  CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 28, 2006 Regular Agenda Consideration of determining the site preference for the possible location of the Okaloosa County Judicial Center Annex on property located at 1958 Lewis Turner Boulevard City Manager) Council Action 1st 2nd Vote: RG - 13 Agenda Item Number:  City of Fort Walton Beach MEMORANDUM TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Joyce Shanahan, City Manager SUBJECT: Okaloosa County Judicial Center Annex DATE: November 22, 2006 BACKGROUND: City Council, at meetings on 11 April 2006, 13 July 2006, 26 September 2006 and 9 October 2006, directed the Manager to discuss with the County Administrator the possibility of locating the Judicial Center Annex Expansion ( JCAE) on a portion of the 1958 Lewis Turner property. On 11 April 2006, Council directed the Manager to continue preliminary negotiations with County representatives to determine their interest in locating the JCAE on the property located at 1958 Lewis Turner Blvd. On 13 July 2006, the City Council convened a special meeting to discuss the site of the Okaloosa County Judicial Center and possible options to have the Judicial Center Complex located on City property. The City Council voted unanimously to direct the City Manager to approach the County to determine their interest in locating the JCAE on the City' s property. The City Manager and County Administrator, on subsequent occasions, have met several times to discuss the extent of the County' s interest in locating the JCAE on City property. The main issues of the conversations were site suitability and cost. Site suitability was based upon information