Recovering from the $90 million flood tab
- April 29, 2015
- / Shannon Nickinson
- / economy
Jack Brown says Escambia County is well on its way to rebounding from last April’s epic rainfall that dropped more than 20 inches of rain in 24 hours.
[caption id="attachment_14493" align="alignright" width="300"]
Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown[/caption]
Brown, the Escambia County administrator, says the tab for flood-related damage in Escambia County is about $90 million, not counting the Central Booking and Detention facility.
Central Booking was rocked by an explosion on April 30, caused by a natural gas leak that came on the heels of an historic rainfall that flooded the basement. Central booking housed some 607 people at the time. The explosion killed two inmates, paralyzed a corrections officer and injured 184 people.
An Escambia County grand jury returned a no true bill on whether criminal charges were warranted in the incident. The grand jurors did recommend changes to avoid a similar incident, including returning the jail to the supervision of the sheriff, not rebuilding the damaged facility in the same location, and improved emergency reporting and response procedures.
Some key recovery points for the county:
[caption id="attachment_6451" align="alignright" width="450"]
A temporary fix has been put in place for Old Corry Field Road. A permanent fix is still in the works.[/caption]
— Old Corry Field Road bridge. A temporary fix is in place. The permanent fix is expected to cost $2.5 million to fully repair through an agreement between Escambia County and FDOT. Construction is anticipated to start in 2017.
— Crescent Lake. The project will cost a total of $1.47 million, with 675,000 going to repair the dam. Funding comes from a Natural Resource Conservation Service grant. The county will take over the repair of the dam, and put in an emergency spillway.
“We’re still working it out legally with the homeowners who control that,” Brown says. “If we’re going to get it fixed, we’ve got to have control over the property. A difference would be, for example, we would put a spillway in and as water levels would rise, we let a little bit off as we need to to where you’re not filling it to capacity when huge rains come in.”
— Lake Charlene. A similar arrangement to Crescent Lake would be in order, Brown says. “Part of the problem with Lake Charlene is we had about an 80 percent solution and we’re trying to figure out a better solution right now,” Brown says. “I’ve asked engineers to go back and take another look at it. If we’re going to spend the money, we should do the very best we can. They’re looking at that now.”
— Delano drainage area project. A $4.1 million drainage effort that would collect at treat more stormwater in the Leonard Street area near the jail. A $3 million hazard mitigation grant from FEMA for that project is under review.
The county would provide its 25 percent local match for that grant through local option sales tax money.
See the county’s Powerpoint recapping progress here.
“The private property issues are lot of more sticky, so we’re trying to make sure we do things appropriately and that we create a long-term solution,” Brown says.
In the spirit of long-term solutions and doing the right thing, the county and city are collaborating on finding funding sources for mitigation projects that could have the biggest impact for the greatest number of residents.
Together both entities are pursuing money under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s National Disaster Resilience Competition.
There is $1 billion in that pot.
Brown said he and Bob McLaughlin, former county administrator hired by the City of Pensacola as a contractor to work on funding sources for stormwater projects, met with state officials in the DEO office.
Brown said they should hear in June if we have made it to the second round of consideration for a piece of that pie. The program aims to fund projects that will make a community better prepared to weather future disasters.
There is $500 million of that money available for the state of Florida.
“We’re going after $200 million,” Brown says.
Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown[/caption]
Brown, the Escambia County administrator, says the tab for flood-related damage in Escambia County is about $90 million, not counting the Central Booking and Detention facility.
Central Booking was rocked by an explosion on April 30, caused by a natural gas leak that came on the heels of an historic rainfall that flooded the basement. Central booking housed some 607 people at the time. The explosion killed two inmates, paralyzed a corrections officer and injured 184 people.
An Escambia County grand jury returned a no true bill on whether criminal charges were warranted in the incident. The grand jurors did recommend changes to avoid a similar incident, including returning the jail to the supervision of the sheriff, not rebuilding the damaged facility in the same location, and improved emergency reporting and response procedures.
Some key recovery points for the county:
[caption id="attachment_6451" align="alignright" width="450"]
A temporary fix has been put in place for Old Corry Field Road. A permanent fix is still in the works.[/caption]
— Old Corry Field Road bridge. A temporary fix is in place. The permanent fix is expected to cost $2.5 million to fully repair through an agreement between Escambia County and FDOT. Construction is anticipated to start in 2017.
— Crescent Lake. The project will cost a total of $1.47 million, with 675,000 going to repair the dam. Funding comes from a Natural Resource Conservation Service grant. The county will take over the repair of the dam, and put in an emergency spillway.
“We’re still working it out legally with the homeowners who control that,” Brown says. “If we’re going to get it fixed, we’ve got to have control over the property. A difference would be, for example, we would put a spillway in and as water levels would rise, we let a little bit off as we need to to where you’re not filling it to capacity when huge rains come in.”
— Lake Charlene. A similar arrangement to Crescent Lake would be in order, Brown says. “Part of the problem with Lake Charlene is we had about an 80 percent solution and we’re trying to figure out a better solution right now,” Brown says. “I’ve asked engineers to go back and take another look at it. If we’re going to spend the money, we should do the very best we can. They’re looking at that now.”
— Delano drainage area project. A $4.1 million drainage effort that would collect at treat more stormwater in the Leonard Street area near the jail. A $3 million hazard mitigation grant from FEMA for that project is under review.
The county would provide its 25 percent local match for that grant through local option sales tax money.
See the county’s Powerpoint recapping progress here.
“The private property issues are lot of more sticky, so we’re trying to make sure we do things appropriately and that we create a long-term solution,” Brown says.
In the spirit of long-term solutions and doing the right thing, the county and city are collaborating on finding funding sources for mitigation projects that could have the biggest impact for the greatest number of residents.
Together both entities are pursuing money under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s National Disaster Resilience Competition.
There is $1 billion in that pot.
Brown said he and Bob McLaughlin, former county administrator hired by the City of Pensacola as a contractor to work on funding sources for stormwater projects, met with state officials in the DEO office.
Brown said they should hear in June if we have made it to the second round of consideration for a piece of that pie. The program aims to fund projects that will make a community better prepared to weather future disasters.
There is $500 million of that money available for the state of Florida.
“We’re going after $200 million,” Brown says.
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