Gainesville City Council is expected to vote Tuesday, August 15 on two resolutions for watershed improvement projects in the city.
Gainesville Environmental Services Administrator Horace Gee outlined the projects for council members at a work session Thursday morning, noting that the cost of the two projects will total close to $3 million.
Midtown Greenway extension, stormwater detention pond proposed near Parker Street
The larger project, which comes with a price tag of $2,825,000, involves the construction of a stormwater detention pond and additional stream restoration north of the Midtown Greenway in the area of Parker Street.
Gee said engineers were working on an update to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) Watershed Improvement Plan (WIP) late last year when they began to map out the proposal for Midtown Greenway extension.
"I asked them to find a way that we could add some [water] storage in that area [around Parker and Gordon Streets]," Gee said. "What they conceptualized was a stormwater detention pond similar to the one we have down in the lower part of the Greenway section. This will be more at the headwaters and will tie in Flat Creek."
Gee told council members the pond would increase stormwater capacity, thus enabling developers in the midtown area to have better access to supply. He said the bulk of the cost for the project will come with the acquisition of eight parcels of property in the project area. He said the department will need all eight parcels to make the pond large enough for future development.
"We'll have enough capacity built in it [the pond] to build out all the way up to Jesse Jewell [Parkway] for various projects that may come along in future years," Gee said.
The goal is to have enough capacity to sell back to developers in the area, so they don't have to build individual detention ponds for each project, according to Gee. In turn, the sale of the capacity would offset building costs of the pond itself and the Greenway extension.
Additional funding needed for Flat Creek ecosystem restoration project
Council also learned Thursday morning that the cost is going up for a restoration project for about 3,300 linear feet of stream restoration work for a portion of Flat Creek.
Gee said the bulk of the project will be funded by the Army Corps of Engineers, but because the original plan for the project has been delayed by the federal government for close to nine years, according to Gee, the cost has increased by about 17-percent. Even so, Gee said DWR was asking council members to approve the resolution, saying the clean-up of Flat Creek will improve water quality for Gainesville customers.
Total cost for the project will rise from $1.912 million to $2.384 million; Gainesville's contribution will rise from $670,000 to $834,000, according to Gee.
Both resolutions will be on the consent agenda Tuesday night.
