Winter Springs stormwater discussions pushed back as list of fixes grows 

A key discussion on how Winter Springs will handle flooding during heavy storms is being pushed back. 

Winter Springs is working on a project with a simple aim: Keep streets and homes from flooding during storms. But it will likely show up as increased costs on residents’ monthly bills.

The Winter Springs City Commission meets Monday, and originally planned to discuss if the city will play an active role in maintaining stormwater retention ponds on private property. That discussion will now happen in February, and the final vote on a likely increase to the rates could happen in March.

Matt Reeser, Winter Springs spokesperson, said the consultant wasn’t ready for next week’s meeting and needed more time. 

Ultimately, the question is whether the city would start a program to clean where the water enters and exits private ponds. Sediment – mostly soil and tree debris – can build up at the points where water flows in and out of a pond. 

“Right now we don’t have a program in place,” Reeser said. “The idea is to come up with a plan so it doesn’t back up into people’s streets and driveways.” 

The issue of pond maintenance can have big financial impacts. The City of Winter Springs is suing over the failure of a stormwater retention pond in Tuskawilla Crossings that could cost upwards of $2 million to repair.

Tuskawilla Crossings is a 133-acre development with 379 planned homes. In September of 2023, the berm, or embankment, of a stormwater retention pond had what was called an “instantaneous” collapse. The city is now suing the developer of the neighborhood, the engineers, the construction firm and the homeowner’s association for damages because of the pond failure.

“We’re paying to fix it,” Reeser said about Tuskawilla Crossing. 

Nearly $8M in stormwater priority projects identified

Flooding is a major concern in Winter Springs. 

Mayor Kevin McCann said “hundreds” of homes in the city were flooded during recent hurricanes,  although the exact number is difficult to pin down because many homeowners use private insurance for repairs. 

“This is a start.” McCann. “It’s the right, first big step.”

You can read accounts of Winter Springs residents impacted by stormwater and hurricanes here. 

In May, Winter Springs doubled its stormwater fee from $5 to $10 per month, the first time the fee had been increased in 20 years. Since then, the city and its consultants have been studying the stormwater infrastructure to see what projects are needed.

In December, Winter Springs approved a capital improvement list of stormwater projects that are estimated to cost $7.8 million. You can read the full list here. The next question is whether to add private ponds; that would be an additional cost.

And none of the proposed projects looks at water quality. Currently the city is focused on stormwater projects that would reduce flooding. 

“It’s a whole other set of priorities,” said Matt Brosman, am engineer with Kimley-Horn, the firm paid to evaluate Winter Springs. “We didn’t want to mingle with the performance of the stormwater system broadly from a flood risk protection standpoint. … This plan really sought to address the quantity of water we’re dealing with. That’s not to say the quality is not an issue.”

McCann said the priority is focusing on flooding. 

“This is saving homes first,” McCann added. “And then we can get into nutrients and things that are really having an impact on Lake Jesup.”

There are five major watersheds in Winter Springs: Gee Creek, Howell Creek, Little Lake Howell, Lake Jesup and Soldiers Creek. Water from storms ultimately flows to those watersheds. 

Winter Springs identified 46 “areas of interest”, which were refined into 12 capital improvement projects for stormwater.

In total, the city is proposing $7.8 million worth of stormwater improvement projects; officials cautioned that the final price tag for any project could vary by 25 to 50 percent, and said any project identified would be funded in the city’s annual budget. 

The capital improvement list includes four projects on Gee Creek, four on Little Lake Howell, two on Howell Creek, one on Soldier’s Creek and one on Lake Jesup.

The ranked list of projects is: 

Rank	Water Body	Description	Project total cost
1	Gee Creek	Alton Road Culvert & Reach Improvements	$995,000
2	Howell Creek	Vistawilla Drive Near Seneca Boulevard Improvements	$600,000
3	Gee Creek	No-Name Creek Conveyance Improvements by Sailfish	$645,000
4	Little Lake Howell	Dunmar Estates Flow Path Reestablishment	$845,000
5	Howell Creek	Winter Springs Boulevard near Davenport Way Improvements	$900,000
6	Little Lake Howell	Fisher Road Near Morton Lane Improvements	$225,000
7	Gee Creek	Shore Road Culvert & Reach Improvements	$1,160,000
8	Soldiers Creek	Highland Village Storage & Conveyance Proposed Control Structure	$550,000
9	Little Lake Howell	Chokecherry Drive Near Sapling Drive Improvements	$260,000
10	Lake Jesup	North Tuskawilla Road Outfall – Proposed Pipe Replacement	$1,310,000
11	Gee Creek	No-Name Creek Conveyance Improvements Near Alton Road	$690,000
12	Little Lake Howell	Winter Springs Boulevard Near Chokecherry Drive Improvements	$645,000

The highest-ranked project is to spend nearly $1 million at Alton Road, near the intersection with Lido Road. Currently, there are three 54-inch pipes under the road. The project would increase the channel leading up to the pipes, and increase the pipes to a much larger arched concrete pipe. 

Winter Springs City Commissioner Paul Diaz in December said he was worried about the costs of the projects. 

“We have a  lot of open-ended costs,” Diaz cautioned, saying he wanted to see coordination with other governments with “deeper pockets.” Several nearby municipalities, including Casselberry, Maitland and Winter Park, plus Seminole County and Orange County, route stormwater through Winter Springs. 

Clete Saunier, Winter Springs director of public works and utilities, cautioned that working with Seminole County could alter timelines. 

“We want to be the masters of our own destiny,” Saunier said. “And so I think if we put the ball entirely in the county’s court, we would be dependent on what their budget schedule (is) and how often or frequently they might be able to address city specific needs.”

City Manager Kevin Sweet also cautioned the commission not to rely on federal grants as well. 

“At least during this current administration, I would not feel comfortable with relying on (grants) because we’ll be talking about these projects that need to be addressed three years from now and still talking,” Sweet said. “We need to be from the position that we’re gonna find it and take care of ourselves locally and if opportunities arise we’ll continue to beat that drum, but not rely on that as a major component of this.” 

Winter Springs’ next meeting is Monday, Jan. 12 at 6:30 p.m. You can find the agenda here when it becomes available, and you can stream the meeting here. 

The discussion about private ponds is now scheduled to happen in February, and the meetings to look at possible stormwater rate increases to cover the projects would happen in March.

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Abe Aboraya is a Report for America Corps Member.