Winter Springs moves to boost flooding, stormwater improvements

The City of Winter Springs approved a $1.5 million contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. Monday to spend the next two years developing a plan stormwater improvements so fewer homes flood during big rain events. 

The money will be paid with the current generation of the penny sales tax program. The contract will have engineers do a drainage system inventory, a maintenance and retrofit improvement plan, and eventually develop a capital improvement plan for stormwater. 

The contract also calls for the engineers to do a funding study – in all likelihood, a way to figure out how to pay for the needed improvements by increasing fees.  

“We have to develop a source of funding, a continuous source of funding, not just bandaid everything with gas tax money,” Interim City Manager Phil Hursh said. “We have to have some permanent solution, like we have for wastewater.”

Mayor Kevin McCann again raised the specter that the city’s stormwater rates will have to be raised down the road. He said that, after Hurricane Ian dumped more than 15 inches of rain in Winter Springs in a day, the city has to do better for residents. 

“Following Hurricane Ian … we had far too many homes that were significantly damaged and rendered uninhabitable in our community,” McCann said. “No matter what happens after this election or after I’m done here, the future commissioners and mayor must make and keep this a priority.”

Commissioner Cade Resnick cautioned that this was the beginning of years of work. 

“It does say 38 to 44-and-a-half months to get this in process and then the work to start,” Resnick said. “So we’re looking at four years before we can really get it going. So everyone pay attention to that.”

Separately, commissioners agreed to spend an additional $73,280 with Kimley-Horn to study extending reclaimed water access. Reclaimed water is water from the city’s wastewater plant that is not safe for consumption, but can be used for irrigation when it’s available. 

The money being spent is just to plan for the extension, and doesn’t cover the actual construction. The planned extension would create a reclaimed water main loop along Michael Blake Boulevard to State Road 434, giving the Winter Springs Village, the Seminole Crossings neighborhood and The Blake apartments possible access to reclaimed water; those communities, like most in Central Florida, use potable water for landscaping. 

Winter Springs Utilities Director Bilal Iftikhar said it’s important for the city to continue to expand reclaimed water because Winter Springs is pulling too much water from the aquifer for drinking water.  

“Why are we going to Winter Springs Village? It’s because it’s already plumbed,” Iftikhar said. “All we have to do is take the line and once we connect it there are already lines within the subdivision.”

Iftikhar said he expects to meet with St. Johns River Water Management District staff next month about what the city is doing about being over its consumptive use permit, or CUP. Winter Springs exceeded its CUP in 2022 and 2023. 

Winter Springs approves being part of EPA Central Florida Waste-to-Energy initiative grant

Winter Springs approved participating in a non-binding grant application to the federal Environmental Protection Agency in a $174 million project to convert biosolid waste to energy.

Seminole County is the lead agency on the Central Florida Waste-to-Energy initiative. The other agencies that have signed onto the project include Osceola County, Orange County,  the City of Orlando, the City of Altamonte Springs, the City of Oviedo and the Tohopekaliga Water Authority.

Currently, Winter Springs spends more than $500,000 annually to get rid of its biosolid waste after it’s been processed at its wastewater plant. The new Central Florida Waste-to-Energy initiative would convert the biosolids into methane (and, eventually, compressed natural gas), as well as CO2 for sale. 

“This is the last step in the grant process,” said John Slot, Seminole County’s chief technology officer. “This just gets us an at bat. It’s a competitive grant. We may or may not win.” 

If Seminole County does get the grant, municipalities would potentially save money on processing their biosolids. That would require another agreement with the cities down the road.

The plant has also secured $60 million in private investments. The idea is to break ground in November of 2024 on construction in east Central Florida. 

Check here to read about that project. 

During their meeting, commissioners also expressed disappointment that three appropriations for the City of Winter Springs were vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis vetoed nearly $1 billion in funding for the 2024-25 state budget.

The Florida Policy Institute has an interactive map here where you can view budget vetoes by county. Winter Springs had three projects vetoed: $256,000 for a high-water rescue vehicle, $375,000 for a stormwater retrofit study and $212,500 for a bridge replacement on Northern Way. 

“Although we may have lost some of that, the fight’s not over,” McCann said. “We’re gonna continue chasing those things.”