FELLSMERE — The City of Fellsmere is moving forward with crafting a master plan to improve stormwater management and drainage throughout the historic core of the city.
The city has been working with various consultants to create a plan to address the issues and ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations. The targeted area contains 14,000 acres and is drained through a system of ditches and canals.
Community Development Director Mark Mathes presented a few potential solutions to the city’s drainage challenges. Such solutions include paving the currently unpaved roads in town, improving the swales in the alleyways, and creating regional stormwater lakes in crucial areas of the city to help divert excess water.
Mathes pointed to various roads that have been paved as having helped improve water flow and drainage. As for the alleyways, he said more work still needs be done.
“At some point, we need to turn attention to the alleyways,” he said, explaining that they currently do a good job hold water – not moving it.
The regional stormwater lakes Mathes has envisioned include a 5-acre piece of property along S. Carolina Avenue at Babcock Street where Broadway dead-ends. The property is currently part of land the Mirzam Group owns and on which the company plans to build a retirement community.
Mirzam Group representatives have expressed interest in turning the 5-acre parcel into a community amenity – like a stormwater lake.
Another piece of the land the city plans to turn into a lake is on the south end of the downtown area, near Willow and 89th Street.
Mathes said the 40-acre property would be a mix of open water and man-made wetlands and would be expected to be a site for recreational activities.
In both cases, the lakes would serve as a holding area for water diverted from the adjacent ditches, freeing up room in those ditches to collect more water.
Mathes cautioned the Fellsmere City Council that even if the city were to implement all the proposed drainage improvement projects, flooding could still happen.
“There is still no guarantee there won’t be flooding,” he said.
Mayor Susan Adams agreed, reminding the council that this is Florida and Fellsmere was built on a swamp.
She and her fellow council members agreed that the master plan should provide a level of flooding protection that keeps water out of homes, out of businesses, and off of Broadway.
“That hits all the high points people want to hit,” Adams said.
