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The city's Stormwater Division is working hard to improve drainage issues. In fact, more than $7 million in stormwater improvements have been completed over the last three years.
On July 6, we experienced almost 5.5 inches of rain in just 3 hours, which only happens once in 100 years. Even with this incredible amount of rain, areas that used to flood did not experience flooding.
For example, improvements made in the Northwood area on Market Street, the Cardinal Drive area, Seagate, Plaza East, Heidi Drive area of Winter Park and Longstreet in Pine Valley have recently been completed and those areas did not experience flooding, even during the recent record amounts of rain.
Several other improvements are planned, including a $1.3 million project in the Doctor’s Branch area which is expected to begin by the end of the year. The number of projects and how fast they can be completed depends largely on the amount of funding available. The city pays for stormwater improvements with monthly fees paid by property owners.
The current stormwater fee is $5.10 a month for the average homeowner. Although the city would like to complete more projects and do them more quickly, city estimates show that it would cost $59 million over five years to pay for all of the needed improvements. This would cause the average monthly bill to double, which is not feasible.
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Market St./Northwoods project:
$1,145,555
Market St. /Inland Greens project:
$1,600,000 (approx)
Plaza East project:
$1,191,348
Longstreet Drainage project:
$3,355,542
Winter Park Drainage Relief:
$343,971
(provided new gravity outlet for Woodale, Heide and Barefoot area of Winter Park)
Dupree Drive project:
$700,000
(provided new stormwater wetland and drainage relief for Myrtle Ave. & Dupree Dr.
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