Janet A. Rogers, executive director of the Pinellas Park Water Management District, and Richard O. Fraze, engineer, examine maps.
PINELLAS PARK – Major flooding in various parts of Pinellas Park can result due to the lack of maintenance of local storm water systems if the Pinellas Park Water Management District is allowed to die.
That was the prediction of Janet A. Rogers, executive director, and Richard O. Fraze, district engineer, who voiced concern that a proposed bill expected to be introduced later this year by Rep. Janet C. Long could spell the end to local flood control.
Not properly maintaining storm drains, canals and other equipment can cause vegetation, tree limbs, soil and even discarded household goods to clog water flow in the event of heavy rains, tropical storms and the ever-increasing threat of hurricanes.
“Storm water knows no boundaries,” Rogers said. “Pinellas Park may maintain the infrastructure, but other cities and the county may not.”
The water district has spent more than $44 million on storm water control since its inception in the 1970s. But, Rogers said, that equipment can be rendered useless unless it is properly maintained.
Long recently announced that she will make another bid to introduce legislation to eliminate the water district. That came after her bill to eradicate the district was ditched last month by the economic development and community affairs policy council before it was to go before a full house vote.
The proposed legislation, like its predecessor, is expected to not actually eliminate the district, but to leave that up to voters in a public referendum.
Fraze, meanwhile, points out that the water district is in the midst of working on a major drainage project on Gandy Boulevard that will eliminate flooding woes along that section of Pinellas Park. The projected $5 million program is being done for $2.7 million because contractors are hungry for work and are cutting costs to bare bones.
Plus, Fraze said, the city of Pinellas Park is about to begin the multimillion-dollar Phase 3 of the Park Boulevard storm water drainage project.
Bids on that project are being sought. Actual work is slated to begin in December.
Rogers said thousands of homes and businesses were flooded in the 1979 100-year storm that caused millions of dollars in damages.
In 2006, when a similar storm struck the area, Rogers said, only 42 homes in Pinellas Park were flooded and six in Lealman. That was because of water district anti-flooding construction projects, she said.
“Consider also that the population has nearly doubled since 1979,” Rogers said. “Despite that, our storm drains were able to move water quickly enough to avert a duplication of the 1979 floods.”
The district was created by state lawmakers to build and manage primary stormwater drainage systems. The district is divided into five drainage basins and is responsible for the management of the main systems while secondary ones fall under the jurisdiction of Pinellas Park and Pinellas County. The district serves not only Pinellas Park, but Kenneth City, Lealman and parts of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County.
Long, meanwhile, believes that the district has outlived its usefulness. Her District 51 includes a good portion of the water district. It is also the location of two basins and two channels that are vital to moving stormwater.
Long said that in addition to paying a tax to maintain the water district, taxpayers in the effected areas also pay a storm water management fee. She said it is up to local officials to work for and protect their citizens. She noted that the St. Petersburg City Council endorsed her original bill to eliminate the district.
The district is of little benefit to Kenneth City and Lealman, Long said, but their property owners still must pay the tax to keep it going.
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