Every year, for as long as I can remember, the Duckpond and Grove Street flood during heavy storms.  This means that 4-10 times annually the water backs up into buildings and makes the streets unpassable.  This creates a serious public safety concern.  Several feet of water.  Water enters buildings.  Cars are destroyed and damaged every year. Police have to respond and there are expenses related to barricading off roads and assisting people and property. 

 It can all be prevented- and I know that you are all aware of these flooding issues. Commissioner Chestnut is especially aware as she lives and works near the flooding. 

For years I've been talking to commissioners about it individually, and I have received assurances that the city is addressing the issue and taking steps to permanently repair it.  I recently discovered that I have been misled, and that public works does not have this on its radar.

This is shocking to me.  The issues that are causing this flooding are very clear- as well as the solution.  

The Gainesville Shopping center on north main was built over a spring and a culvert, and water is directed underneath the center and into the storm water system.  The center has a massive expanse of asphalt and concrete and virtually no permeable areas.  When it was built the storm water pipes that run from it and under main street were not sized correctly.  They are too small. The water then flows into the Duckpond, where it has the same issue underneath each residential road.  The pipes are too small to allow proper water flow through them so they back up. So it creates a lake in the Duckpond.  

That temporary lake, which slows down the flow of water, causes water to back up into Grove Street and flood the streets in several feet of water.  It not only affects the existing local businesses, it also prevents residential development of the area- reducing the amount of housing we can offer to residents in the city.  It floods the city bike path under several feet of water, continuously damaging landscaping and creating a public safety concern.

When these streets flood in the Duckpond and Grove Street you are reducing access by emergency vehicles, which could result in untimely responses and the death of citizens.  Not to mention property damage and loss of business and the subsequent loss of tax revenue by the city every time this occurs. 

I can not attest to the size of the pipes that were installed underneath Williston Road, but to the best of my knowledge they are large enough to handle additional capacity.  

This process needs to be started.  They need to conduct a survey of the flooding and extent of it, calculate the size of the pipes that are needed to carry the water to Sweetwater reserve, and begin changing those pipes. 

It will flood.  It's not a question of whether or not it will.  It floods while the rest of Gainesville remains dry.  It floods under these 2 inch rain storms we occasionally get, let alone tropical storms and hurricanes.  Saying this is hurricane damage and pushing it off is a poor service to the people of the city.