CRAAB told extensive Alachua Street stormwater project "will never happen" in foreseeable future

Threat of extensive flooding scaring developers from waterfront area projects

Massive stormwater pump vaults have been sitting idle on Alachua Street for almost two years

The Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board (CRAAB) was told Wednesday that an extensive stormwater capture and release system to minimize flooding in historic downtown Fernandina Beach "will never happen" and was dependent on a flood prevention wall being built along the Amelia River.

The result, they were told, is that potential developers have abandoned plans for major projects along the riverfront because of repeated flooding along Front Street during king tide and storm events.

Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Chip Ross updated CRAAB members on the latest developments of the project which was originally planned to be completed in July, 2023. The construction costs of the project have ballooned from $2 million to more than $7 million, funds the city does not have in its budget.

"That plan is never going to happen. It's not going to happen in the foreseeable future, let's put it that way," Ross said.

The city has spent more than $1 million for pumping stations, the concrete vaults and other equipment needed for the original system. That equipment now sits unused without the funds available to fully construct the elaborate stormwater system.

"We had every anticipation of it (the original plan) working. We had a contractor, who under contract purchased materials and blew their bid when they realized they couldn't get specialized jack and bore contractors to build that big of a line in a confined space," said Jacob Platt with the city's building department.

Platt said the city is devising a plan to either repurpose that equipment or sell it on the secondary market to recover some of those funds.

Interim City Manager Charlie George last month referenced a revised plan to get the Alachua road work, curbs, sidewalks and railroad crossing done to open the street, minus installation of the underground stormwater system which would require the balance of funds around $5 million-to-$6 million. The revised project will use two existing drainage pipes to deal with flooding issues.

The original plan was to tunnel under the railroad tracks - called jack and bore - in order to install a bigger capacity drainage pipe. It's the jack and bore element of the project that has driven up construction costs.

Ross told CRAAB members he had contacted 10 jack and bore contractors in northeast Florida and south Georgia and only one had offered a bid on the project.

"There's nobody interested in this kind of a job. It's too much hassle, too much money, too much railroad and too much annoyance. It's just not a workable plan," Ross said.

Ross also updated CRAAB on the progress of the flood prevention wall.

"The seawall, which the city spent $600,000 in designing, is currently before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. That process will take years according to them," Ross said.

Also, plans for voters to decide on a $14 million to $21 million bond referendum to fund the flood prevention wall were shelved by the city this year.

Ross told CRABB members "all of this is my opinion. I'm not with the Corps, I'm not an engineer and I don't represent the city engineer's opinion or anybody else's opinion. This is information I've been able to glean."

CRAAB member Jenny Schaffer, who is renovating the former Standard Marine building on 2nd and Alachua, said developers of the properties adjacent to the waterfront are "fed up" with delays on projects that would alleviate flooding in the area.

"The developers have put their plans on hold because they're fed up with everything that's happened down there. I just think that's sad. Others, who had big plans down there, now don't want to invest down there and that's disappointing," she said.

There are nine lots on the east side of Front Street that potentially can be developed.

In response to CRAAB Chair Lisa Finkelstein's question on how developers could be lured back to considering projects for the area, Schaffer said not much could be done.

"I feel all of this could have been avoidable two years ago," Schaffer said of the original plans and the city awarding a $2 million contract to build the project. "I don't know what you could do other than to provide them with here's what you're going to have to do now."

Under city building requirements, developers currently are responsible for capturing flood waters on their properties.

Schaffer said she would have had to invest $60,000 or more for a flood water capture system on her Standard Marine project had the city not reconfigured the stormwater system project along Alachua.

"And that doesn't include all the engineering," she said.

CRAAB members agreed their only course of action was pushing forward efforts to have the flood prevention wall built and the underground stormwater pumping system completed as the key elements that would promote development in the Community Redevelopment Area district.