Winter Springs flooding issues highlighted in stormwater briefing 

With concerns about flooding fresh in the minds of residents and city leaders alike, the Winter Springs City Commission heard a briefing on the state of the city’s stormwater systems during its meeting Monday evening. The city is bracing this week for yet another potential flooding event from Hurricane Helene, with rivers, streams and lakes already high from recent rainfall.

The Commission’s last meeting on Sep. 9 saw numerous residents speak during public input, citing flooding concerns related to issues with water bodies such as Gee Creek and No Name Creek. 

David Hamstra, the Stormwater Department manager for Pegasus Engineering LLC, which consults with the city, presented the fourth in a series of stormwater briefings to the commission.

“I’m actually looking forward to this one,” Mayor Kevin McCann said, prior to the presentation. “It’s campaign season. Hearing a lot from residents, the two biggest issues in Winter Springs are stormwater and wastewater.”

Though the presentation offered updates on projects such as pond repairs for Tuskawilla Crossings and the Wetland Park outfall improvements, Hamstra said the main focus would be on the evaluation of Gee Creek and No Name Creek’s shared watershed. 

Hamstra said an assessment of Gee Creek’s watershed began following Hurricane Irma in 2017, with an eye toward maintenance projects that could get rainwater runoff flowing better. 

“On that study for major projects was the recommendation to upsize the culvert at Shore Road at Gee Creek, upsize the culvert at Alton Road at Gee Creek and then in between to stabilize that channel,” Hamstra said. 

The city previously lacked the capability to conduct a detailed hydraulic model at that time, but Seminole County’s watershed studies now provide the necessary data. 

Hamstra said they’re currently waiting on the release of the hydraulic model for the Gee Creek watershed in order to evaluate potential improvements, including culvert upsizing.

Commissioner Victoria Bruce questioned why no action had been taken previously by the city to work on the culverts. 

“There was a flood study done a long time ago that provides recommendations to upsize these culverts,” Bruce said. “Why hasn’t this been done before?” 

“Because the city would have to, at the time … do an extensive, detailed computer model, survey all the creeks, do all the modeling,” Hamstra said. “It’s not a cheap exercise … it’s one thing to recommend it. We recommend things all the time in studies. It’s another thing to permit it and pay for it.”

Commissioner Cade Resnick questioned the financial aspect of the stormwater improvements.

“If the city makes a decision, if the dais is to fund it entirely, it could be done as soon as the study is completed,” Hamstra said. “I always try to look for a 75 percent [grant funding] match if I can lessen the load from the city’s budget, but by no means do you have to wait for a grant to be available. It could be done as soon as the design is done.”

“So moving forward, there’s no grant for it,” Resnick said. “I just want to make sure I understand, there’s no grant available. We would have to fund it. We would have to do it out of tax money.”

Interim City Manager Phil Hursh interjected, adding that until the county consultant’s reports come back they won’t know all the input data needed to complete a final model of Gee Creek and No Name Creek.

“Trust me, if I could do it tomorrow, I’d replace the pipe right away,” Hursh said. “But the worst thing you want to do is install too big of a pipe, and then all of a sudden you’ve got flooding. There’s always a balance with the size of the pipe. Sure, one area may get relief, but the estuary could face the same negative impact. So that’s just the technical side — it’s not a monetary issue.”

“As for the monetary side, there are two flood mitigation grants available after a declared event,” Hamstra added. “The community development block grant and the hazard mitigation grant. Other than that, you can increase solar utility fees or find other mechanisms to raise money and offset the costs. That’s why we’re conducting this stormwater study — to look at the overall stormwater enterprise and see how much funding we need to resolve this.”

McCann said the city has previously taken numerous actions to update stormwater infrastructure, citing Gee Creek bank improvements prior to Hurricane Ian, the building moratorium, debris clearing efforts and more. 

He then added that while the city’s wastewater issues will most likely be handled within the next three to four years, stormwater improvements will take far longer. 

“This [stormwater] issue will be an issue that our community will be facing for decades,” McCann said. “We will have to continue to make improvements. There’s going to be decades of work on this.”

Several residents spoke to the commission during public input regarding their continued concerns over the city’s stormwater infrastructure, such as resident Lori Thum who said she and other homeowners were never made aware of flooding issues prior to her home purchase in 2021. 

“If I knew, I would have flood insurance,” Thum said. “I was told you’re not in the flood zone, you don’t need flood insurance. A year later, I lose everything. Would have been nice to be notified.”

Resident Denise Brown told the commission they had “chosen politics over the care of residents,” citing a lack of action as Hurricane Helene continues to grow with landfall expected sometime late Thursday on Florida’s Gulf Coast. 

“There’s a hurricane possibly heading our way this week, and still, nothing,” Brown said. “I notified all of you over three weeks ago that the culverts at Geek Creek and Alton and Lido are blocked on both sides … you’ve had seven years to take care of this. Now seven years later, we’re talking about it … we’re spending money on yet another report to tell us basically the same thing.”

City Commission candidates Mark Caruso and Sarah Baker also spoke, reading statements from residents about their experiences with flooding and the commission. 

“I’m getting to the point of wanting out of Winter Springs after 37 years,” Caruso said, reading from a statement by resident Susan Reed. “If we flood again, I’m done. It’s pure negligence.”

Baker, reading from a statement by resident Leah Weisman, said action had to be taken now for stormwater improvements. 

“Please annex land around Gee Creek and work with the state to widen the [culvert] going under 434, implement the suggestions of the 2017 study, and make a system of reporting issues easier so something as simple as a downed tree will not flood homes,” Baker said, reading Weisman’s statement.

As Winter Springs continues to try to mitigate residential flooding while working on stormwater infrastructure improvements, McCann said residents may eventually see costs such as stormwater utility bills increase to make up for expenses. 

“It’s going to have to be addressed at some point,” McCann said. “At some point, we’re not going to get away with having the lowest stormwater rates in five counties. We just simply cannot continue to allow our neighborhood zones to be flooded by keeping those rates so low.”

Want to contact your elected leaders and weigh in on this topic? Find their contact information here. Have a news tip or opinion to share with OCN? Do that here.