Storm system needs ongoing maintenance
Editor’s Note: This is the final of a two-part series on the Pinellas Park Water Management District.
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
| Article published on Thursday, June 25, 2009 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/062509_par-02.jpg) |
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| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSKI |
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| Vegetation growth can clog canals if a rigid maintenance program is not in place. |
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PINELLAS PARK – Maintaining the Pinellas Park Water Management District storm system is an ongoing process vital to keeping the area flood-free.
It costs less than $100 annually per household to keep the water district operating.
Eliminating the water district, however, could mean additional property taxes to not only maintain the system, but to hire workers and purchase equipment as well.
“Many people do not realize what is involved in maintaining the infrastructure,” Janet A. Rogers, district executive director, said. “It is vitally important that we maintain what has been constructed over the years.”
The district serves Pinellas Park, Kenneth City, Lealman, parts of St. Petersburg and unincorporated Pinellas County. It is but one of more than 1,500 different special districts in various parts of Florida that have been created by the state Legislature. They comprise fire, water, community development, housing and conservation districts established by state lawmakers to deal with local issues.
Some districts served one community or one county. Others serve multiple counties and municipalities.
The Pinellas Park Water District was created to deal with severe flooding problems that has plagued the city and the immediate surrounding areas since the early 1900s. Over the years it has financed on a pay-as-you-go basis major anti-flood projects that have all but eliminated water woes in most areas.
Now that the district’s storm water construction is nearly over, some believe that the water district and its millage rate should go away.
But not so fast, some officials say, because it is just as important to maintain the system as it was to build it.
The district has a crew of workers that constantly maintain canals, drains and other equipment. Vegetation growth, tree limbs and other items need to be removed. Then there is the problem of household items such as furniture, refrigerators and even car parts that are tossed into the canals by residents.
So-called “weep holes,” underground drainage pipes that empty into canals, must be kept unplugged through routine maintenance.
“If the district goes away and the system is not maintained all the flooding problems of the past can return,” Rogers said.
Not only that, but residents within the water district can face increased homeowner insurance costs that presently are discounted due to decreasing flood zones.
Richard O. Fraze, district engineer, said the water district already has a good maintenance program in place. Pinellas Park, he points out, might maintain its storm water equipment but if, say, Kenneth City, does not, then the floods of yesteryear can easily return.
City officials don’t want to see the district fall to the wayside. Supporters say that Pinellas County and surrounding cities are looking for ways to cut budgets in these difficult economic times. Taking on storm water infrastructure maintenance responsibilities is not in the cards when employee layoffs and program reductions are looming.
A millage rate of 2.55 maintains the district’s programs. That rate has been shrinking over recent years and is expected to be lower this coming fiscal year.
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Article published on Thursday, June 25, 2009
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