HomeMy WebLinkAboutCentral Winds Flood-1992 Neighbors blame Iiiii
park for flooding
By Elaine Bennett � !, .4"4.- '`11■
OF THE SENTINEL STAFF y
WINTER SPRINGS — Jamie Leier's exhilaration - _
after a weeklong cruise came to an abrupt halt when G'"".. • y 7' .- '"
she returned to a flooded home. _ ;. ti >'
Recent heavy rains also dug 2-foot-deep ditches, r.• - -
exposed pipes and swept away sections of a dirt road. " '
Leier and her neighbors said they believe the . - 1.
flooding was caused by a poorly designed and con-
structed retention pond on the northeast side of Cen- _
tral Winds Park.
City officials and park planners said some damage .
did occur at the park during a heavy rainstorm April
11, but they disagreed that a design, engineering or %�
construction problem on the park property caused i
damage in Leier's neighborhood off Orange Avenue
in unincorporated Seminole County, north of the - _
park's east side. . '..--- .
1 "I didn't see any of the damage or water these peo- ,' - ,_-
ple are talking about," said City Manager Dick Ro- * ... i'
I zansky, who visited the park April 20, more than a 4.� ••',, 1...'14::., .-
week after the rainstorm and seven days after work- - . ,. •
ers regraded Orange Avenue and filled in the ditches '.'64:. .• :�, '•''=• r. - ,
left by erosion in the park. '+ F► ~' _ .
"I didn't see that much damage at the park," he _ ' ✓1- ,.' • _ -
said "There were a few washouts, but they weren't '".- of -- ,�-i --
serious." :�.
Leier disagreed, saying that a couple who cared for '? �� ` ,I� - •
her horses while she was on vacation took pictures of . , .-;t! f.
the damage to her home, the park and Orange Ave- , 14,1 ' :-
nue the day after the storm and before any repairs - a- .. '
were made. f '. -.
The pictures, she said, show water standing inside �'; _ • • ,
her home, where she claims water rushed in under - . - - . 1
the front door, through the living room, dining room %I* --
w
and kitchen, down a hall and into a bedroom, soak- z■ -- t '`
ing carpets and furniture. Leier said the couple car- ' 3 - �- r ""
ing for her horses moved the furniture and removed '
DENNIS WALL/SENTINEL
A newly planted tree near the baseball field at Central Winds
Please see WATER, K-4 Park in Winter Springs was washed out by floodwaters.
96 . oy . �
it As the park was being built,
`though, the hill was flattened and Until the park was built To my knowledge, noth-
etention ponds were built to hold we never had any flood- ing that happened on the
rainwater, which previously y g pp
flowed "fairly evenly" down the ing. It was unbelievable. park property endan-
'hill. along Orange Avenue and —resident Jim Ferguson gered anyone's homes.
around the homes toward Lake Je-
sup,Ferguson said. —park designer David Barth
ith P ark designer David Barth with
e Orlando architectural firm of contracts with the contractors, de-
signers and engineers own expense in the event of era
.Glatting Lopez Kercher Anglin g g� eers The city's Sion.
Inc. said the contractor and engi- insurance company also has been
neers for the park are "evaluating notified and city officials have Timothy Fierro, president of
..the situation to come up with the been advised not to discuss the General Constructors,wrote to the
st solution to fix the problem." case. city April 16 that the contractor
But he said no permanent re- On Wednesday,city only built what the city approved
airs had been made to Y Y public work for the park's design. He also
'pairs prevent crews again graded Orange Ave wrote that the design should have
Ave-
flooding in the immediate future nue in front of the three homes af- included temporary berms and re
ecause it had not been deter- fected by the flooding. tention ponds that could have
mined what caused the flooding City commissioners contacted been removed once sod and grass
or if the retention ponds work Tuesday and Wednesday said they grown from seed took hold.
properly. Barth said he didn't be- had not been notified about any In his letter, Fierro also notified
lieve any problems on city proper- flooding at the park. the city that his company had
ty could have caused damage out- The park's contractor, General hired a consulting engineer to re-
side the park's boundaries. Constructors Inc. of Altamonte view the park's design and that it
"There has been no construe- Springs, didn't return a reporter's would make only emergency re-
tion work beyond the park's calls. Robert E. Farley, project pairs to the park property until ad-
boundaries," Barth said. "To my manager for the city's consulting vised otherwise by the company's
knowledge, nothing that hap
engineers for the park, John B. attorneys.
hap-
pened on the park property en
Webb and Associates, declined to "This is real exasperating, frus
dangered anyone's homes." comment. trating," Leier said. "All I want is
Since Leier and Ferguson have In an April 15 letter to the city, for the city to fix the problem and
mplained to the city about the though, Farley told the city that reimburse me for any damage that
damage, City Attorney Frank the contractor signed an agree- might have occurred at my
Kruppenbacher started reviewing ment to make all repairs at his home."
9AoVo . �
Pictures show park,dama 9 e to home
WATER from K-1 Alr ,
the carpet and padding addin under- I •
neath, but mud and water were c
still there when she returned a r ,
y� i
week later '+ 1
Other pictures show sand from , •
woo
erosion piled in her yard, portions ,� N
•
.of Orange Avenue washed away 3 •
•and 2-foot-deep ditches on Orange • c
Avenue and in her driveway,Leier -
•`said- .. • - • _-
Pictures of the park property s w ' " ,..»� .. '
•show newly seeded grass, chunks
...-4,-.:,-a
of soil and large sections of shell -": ,
•,walkways washed away. They also l �,�r� -
show ditches up to 2 feet deep in rt _ .,,, I'!�'' =,,� ;r.�•o•.
several areas and exposed newly `. w . `�
installed irrigation pipes, sprin . , -� y ;
kler heads and a fire hydrant cov- • • ' • `-;;:'! -1'''`
ered by at least two feet of soil. .:# ,�• :"° - °'" 4
"Until the park was built we " . rf
never had any flooding," said Jim ,
•Ferguson. who said a torrent of 'K ,�
`water poured down from the park, •• le _ ;4 rit -,,
- across Orange Avenue and ••
•through his yard. "It was unbe- . •• •'
•The water, he said, left a large /r.
'depression in his yard, but didn't _ .,.1 ``, # � $
°'~ {•
go into his home. A' ' ,00 e• 4 i ,
Flooding also was reported in •� ;I,P ." .• it
another neighbor's yard west of •
•Leier's home. Those residents • *'d..'•* y d _. ,d,
_ couldn't be reached for comment. • ' . .. �
_ Jr�r .�s sr_ • ":
Like Leier, Ferguson blamed DENNIsNALLSENT,NEL
the park's construction on the Winter Springs worker Leonard Hadden clears out rocks along Or-
flooding. Both said that before ange Avenue, which he is grading. The park is behind fence at left.
work at the park began last year.
the land was an orange grove on a
hill south and west of their prop-
erties.
g ,)■. o (4't (
Winter Springs tries
to aid flood victims
By Elaine Bennett
OF THE SENTINEL STAFF
WINTER SPRINGS — The city is trying to help
Seminole County residents whose properties near
Central Winds Park were flooded during a heavy
rainstorm in early April.
City Manager Dick Rozansky said the city's insurer
had been notified and that workers were repairing dam-
age caused by the April 11 flood that sent water into
one home, dug 2-foot-deep ditches, exposed pipes and
swept away sections of a dirt road and driveways.
Residents on Orange Avenue on the park's north-
east side blamed the flooding on a poorly designed
and constructed retention pond in the park.
Monday night, Rozansky said the "unusual" storm
dropped more than 5 inches of rain in a short period
and that a retention pond near Orange Avenue
hadn't been built to hold that much water.
Residents took pictures of water rushing from the
retention pond, down Orange Avenue and north into
Lake Jesup. eroding driveways and yards of several
homeowners. Water also rushed in under the front
door of one home, soaking carpets and furniture
while the owner was on a week-long cruise.
City Commissioner Don Jonas, who wasn't advised
about the damage for more than a week after the storm,
said he has inspected the damage and has asked that
repairs to private property begin immediately.
Meanwhile, Orange Avenue resident James Fergu-
son, whose yard was flooded during the storm, has
offered to give the city permission to put an ease-
ment on his property to help with the park's drain-
age problem.The city has agreed to review his offer.
9 A o.r0
Design blamed in collapse of pond
❑ For the second time, a . •r
pond has overflowed, �, M'
damaging neighbors' :. .
w '
homes and property.
By Elaine Bennett
r
OF THE SENTINEL STAFF '
WINTER SPRINGS —A design 4 •vi, . *
problem likely caused the collapse
•of a retention pond during a '4'
heavy rainstorm, sending water J
rushing from a city park into r•
neighbors' yards for the second •' 4
time,city officials said. • ,
Winter Springs City Manager r, . , j ti '
Dick Rozansky watched the knee- • "' _
deep water speed from the north- ° '*� -•
east side of Central Winds Park - ' •
into the yards during the June 6 • •
storm. , ' OA -
He said a second retention pond • • •'- •-` r-••
,,
is needed to prevent future flood- ' = , "s =,.
ing. - 4 ca " �...
Rozansky plans to meet with • •
city staff members,the park's con- -•`'- -IV sa,■-s., • -' : ,3;
tractor, architect and engineers to - -, ► °.
determine how to resolve the -- ..*."1".. ='_� =-=- .
problem. �,r' .!�'/ ''y '
y
He said he'll make a recommen- -- " = ^' •. •.'`':
dation to the City Commission in - •- • -.i-, :�` `f.:
a few weeks. ; :- .• ;, ' - .1e.",;r '4 ,� A.
A rainstorm April 11 sent water "• ra:�-; 'N---.•-•%.-_ ,' ; , *r, �`�
pouring under the front door of a I -�n+. ,,.,,. - - . -'` +' �. -�
home owned by Jamie Leier,soak- ..* - `' �=,� •� �
ing carpets and furniture while .6,., .-' •',.� • . s r
-
she was on a week-long cruise. ,. • ••w
The latest flooding wasn't that , , ' "•bad, but it caused erosion damage *" : -•
to Leier's horse-riding arena just .. "• , '
east of her home. •�f _
• a
Leier said she wants the city to . • ` . • '
pay for the damage to her proper- va °
ty, and to repair the park to pre- XY- '
vent future flooding.
During both rainstorms, the '� w'°.� ate. r + "�*
flooding also dug 2-foot-deep •P -. �
ditches, exposed pipes and swept 4 * 0. -446
away sections of Orange Avenue. 4011 .
which is located in unincorporated • �•►� , •
Seminole County and separates , •» i ,* •"o R .I 1 •
the park from private residential •
property that backs up the south ,• Ifit
ern shore of Lake Jesup. . t
Both rainstorms washed away `*I
' shell walkways and chunks of soil, .p AP r +►40
exposing irrigation pipes and # • • * 71114 ,
about two feet of piping below a fire hydrant,on park property. .•
The 59-acre park just north of �ttr:
— .. -
State Road 434 at Wagner's Curve DENNIS WALL SENTINEL FILE PHOTO
still is under construction and is After the April storm, Leonard Hadden of Winter Springs Public Works cleared rocks
scheduled to open later this sum and worked on grading along Orange Avenue. The park is behind fence to the left.
mer.
9 0 6 /q