ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg City Council on Thursday approved $28 million in standard grant agreements with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for projects meant to help with flooding in the city.
“One of the grants helps us ensure that our wastewater treatment plants can operate safely during a storm,” said St. Pete’s Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley. “Our plants are older. They were built back in the 50s, and some of the buildings and equipment are too low in the floodplain. That would put them at risk if we were to get a storm surge.”
The grant would allow the buildings to be rebuilt above the flood zone. Three other grants focus on improving flood-prone neighborhoods. Tankersley said this is just the beginning of flood mitigation efforts. He told Spectrum News the city’s recently released stormwater master plan includes $760 million in projects all over the city.
“It’ll take time, but in addition to those projects that are in the stormwater master plan, we’re not just focusing on those. We’re also going to be focusing on the smaller projects scattered throughout the city to make sure that we’re not leaving anybody out,” Tankersley said.
One of the agreements approved is meant to help people who live in flood-prone Shore Acres. Gary Rosseter has lived in his Arkansas Avenue home in the neighborhood for 24 years and said while flood waters have gotten close, they’ve never come inside until Hurricane Idalia hit last August.
“When I opened up the front door to load the dogs, the water came gushing into the house — a mess,” said Rosseter.
His next-door neighbor, Tim Swartz, said he moved into his home four years ago but has lived throughout Shore Acres for more than two decades. Swartz said flooding inside the house was a new experience for him, as well.
“I stayed, and I kept towels and tape and things over the door,” said Swartz. “I’ve been here for 22 years. I’ve gotten kind of used to it, but I will say, this is the first time that I’ve ever had it come in the house.”
Rosseter and Swartz said their corner of the neighborhood isn’t where the worst of the flooding is seen. They said that’s further down Connecticut Avenue, which is the focus of the Shore Acres Resiliency Infrastructure Project.
“That’s really one of the lowest parts of the neighborhood, and that leads toward our strategic approach of really first installing the backflow preventers from a previous capital project we recently got approved by council that we’re also moving forward on,” said St. Petersburg Director of Engineering and Capital Improvements Brejesh Prayman.
Tankersley said storm drains and pump stations are also planned as part of the project. The $7.8 million DEP grant will pay for half the cost of the project, with utility fees covering the rest.
“We’ll see how it goes, but we are very low. We’re one of the lowest areas in St. Petersburg,” said Swartz. “So, once you get the wind going and the tide, it’s going to be hard to get that water out of here quickly enough to keep it from flooding.”
Prayman said people who live along the ten-mile stretch of the project should see benefits. He noted it’s hard to say when work could begin on the project because there are a few more steps before that can happen. Next up, he said the city will look for firms to work on design and construction.
Sarah Blazonis
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