HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025 10 13 Public Input- Submitted by Art Gallo.pdf13 October 2025 – Public Input to City Commission concerning Stormwater (SW)
- I would like to share a Public Input that I made at the 01 October 2025 CALNO
meeting concerning a letter on storm water that I sent to our State Representatives.
I shared this at CALNO because per the CALNO Bylaws, this issue is of interest and
concern to all of us, and CALNO is tasked with making recommendations to meet
common challenges: Stormwater removal and transportation in this case
- The County and all the cities here I suspect, use our creeks & streams as a SW
conveyance channel for storm water removal
- There is a problem with the current process and with who we assign accountability
for creek maintenance and repair: to “property owners” (Municipality; Homeowner,
or an HOA as example). Rather than treating the creeks as what they are actually
used for: as a utility that is required for the safe removal and transportation of SW for
the prevention of flooding. …There is no coordinated survey planning to identify
erosion or debris problems for example; no coordinated planning for creek
maintenance or for the setting of maintenance priorities; or for the identification of
funding to keep these SW conveyance channels open and free to transport our SW
- I am also reminded that the maintenance and repair costs can be significant after a
storm event, and well beyond a Homeowners or HOA’s ability to pay. Even with the
NRCS’s 25% cost share funding, these repair costs are still unaffordable by many
including our cities
- Seminole County has already recognized this by funding the 25% NRCS cost share
for people within the unincorporated parts of Seminole County
- I believe that the State Legislature (and the Federal Government) need to address
this issue of being responsible but not accountable. They are the ones with the
overall resources to fix this because within our State at least, the Water Districts can
do something about maintaining SW conveyance channels if properly tasked and
funded
- Our Water Districts can and should be funded to coordinate these SW related public
safety issues. Unfortunately, as I state in my letter which I provided to you, at times
the State water quality and environmental requirements clash with public safety
requirements. This results in public safety issues being left uncorrected until after
an incident occurs, …if then
- I am requesting that all of you as representatives here investigate this, bring up this
issue with your respective Commissions for discussion, and then join together at
CALNO to cooperate in performing the hard work from your levels up to the State
Legislature, to finally address what is really a SW Utility issue for our residents.
Thank you. Art Gallo
26 September 2025
Dear Senator Brodeur and Representative Smith (and Representative Plakon):
I am writing to request your support of a stormwater issue involving Howell Creek, which is a stormwater
conveyance channel that transports water into Lake Jesup, the St. Johns River, and finally into the Atlantic
Ocean. The issue is that current Florida Law states that the landowners are responsible for the maintenance
and repair of these conveyances. The issue becomes even more complicated when dealing with private
property that includes property controlled by Homeowner Associations (HOAs).
Damage to Howell Creek, caused by stormwater that runs into the creek, results in the collection of debris,
silt, and muck that requires routine maintenance to remove. Additionally, this same stormwater impacts the
creek’s ability to safely transport water into Lake Jesup due to bank erosion and the naturally occurring
changes in creek flow routes. Also, the State allows developers and municipalities to use Howell Creek as a
recommended stormwater conveyance and therefore, the State should also have a budget to provide to all of
their Water Districts for the maintenance and repair of these same creeks. They need to be considered as
part of the State’s Stormwater Utility.
Currently, the State of Florida requires each Water District to deal with water quality and environmental
issues, but not so much with considering public safety issues. At times, these water quality and
environmental requirements clash with public safety elements. The result is that creek safety concerns are
not addressed until after an incident occurs (after-the fact). In actuality, our State’s Water Districts have all of
the responsibility for our creeks, but none of the accountability (and budget) that is required for their safe and
continued operation to transport the State’s collected stormwater. This needs to be addressed at the State
Legislature.
Currently Howell Creek runs through both public and private property which not only currently complicates
areas of responsibility, but also inspection requirements, the assignments of maintenance priorities, as well
as with the funding available for all maintenance and repair. Many boundary lines run through the center of
the creek which further complicates this already convoluted creek stormwater accountability process. FEMA
will not even assist private property owners after an event.
When dealing with NRCS, the property owner’s (like an HOA) 25 percent cost share can exceed $1 million
dollars. This is well beyond the reserve funds of many/most HOAs which means that required work to ensure
the stormwater continues reliably to flow will probably not get completed.
As I look at the current stormwater accountability process, it would seem to make much more sense to
capture these stormwater conveyance responsibility requirements at a Federal and State level than to leave
them as they are now: with the property owner. The best method to ensure that our stormwater system
operates as we believe it must, is to place the Water Districts in charge of maintenance and repair of our
stormwater conveyance system (i.e. creeks) and provide them with the equivalent budget.
I recommend that each of you take this stormwater issue on for discussion and resolution within the State
Legislature and with your Federal counterparts, and pass the accountability, responsibility and the
associated budget of maintaining the State’s stormwater conveyance system (like Howell Creek) to each
State Water District.
Thank you.
Art Gallo
199 Nandina Terrace
Winter Springs, FL. 32708