City promises to assist with Palmer Avenue residents’ water woes

City promises to assist with Palmer Avenue residents’ water woes
Steve Jackson, District 14 Councilwoman Randy DeFoor, Jacksonville Public Works Director John Pappas, Margaret Jones, Jacksonville Chief of Engineering and Construction Management Bill Joyce, Flo McColskey, Craig McColskey, Steve McColskey, Brooks Dame and Patrick Jones

Christmas came early when Jacksonville Public Works Director John Pappas promised to assist Palmer Avenue residents in engineering an answer that would help dry up the severe sunny day flooding that they have been experiencing in their backyards from the drainage pipe and trench that runs along the rear of their properties. 

Pappas agreed have the City’s Public Works Department lend a hand during a meeting called by District 14 City Councilwoman Randy DeFoor that included city officials and Palmer Avenue residents, who converged during a rainstorm in the Palmer Avenue backyard of Craig and Flo McColskey. Huddled under umbrellas as they observed and discussed the problem were Pappas, DeFoor, Florida State Representative Wyman Duggan, Jacksonville Chief of Engineering and Construction Management Bill Joyce, Brooks Dame, who is the executive assistant to DeFoor, the McColskeys, and their neighbors – Steve Jackson, Patrick and Margaret Jones, Brant Boatright, and Rebecca Deacon. Craig McColskey’s brother, Steve, who understands drainage and owns a landscape and irrigation business, also attended at his brother’s request.

“I’m so excited, this is like Christmas,” squealed Flo McColskey after Pappas agreed to help. “If you come on a rainy day, it’s like Noah’s Ark. I feel like we have waterfront property. This has been very upsetting to me, because when it rains, I have to leave my home because I feel I am going to cry. I’m always worried water is going to come into my house. And Becca (Deacon), she’s got little girls, and they can’t play in their backyard. They have to use sandbags to block water from coming in their back door.”

Jackson, the McColskeys, Boatright, Deacon, and Jenniffer and Andrew Hunt, who had difficulty selling their home until it was recently purchased by the Jones, had complained to DeFoor and Duggan about the encroaching water, filled with sediment and oil, filling their backyards and making them unusable. Craig McColskey said his parents bought his house in 1948 and that he grew up there. He said, in the past, rain might fill up the trench lining the rear of his property. It is only recently, since the developer of Ortega Park removed two retention ponds, that water has taken over his back yard and those of his neighbors. 

Initially the city declared the problem was on private property and not a city concern, but thanks to DeFoor and then Duggan, who met one-on-one with Pappas convincing him to make the on-site visit, the city re-evaluated its initial assessment that nothing could be done for the residents. 

Florida State Representative Wyman Duggan and Jacksonville Chief of Engineering and Construction Management Bill Joyce, and District 14 City Councilwoman Randy DeFoor listen to Jacksonville Director of Public Works John Pappas talk with Palmer Avenue residents about their backyard drainage issues
Florida State Representative Wyman Duggan and Jacksonville Chief of Engineering and Construction Management Bill Joyce, and District 14 City Councilwoman Randy DeFoor listen to Jacksonville Director of Public Works John Pappas talk with Palmer Avenue residents about their backyard drainage issues

In the 1960s, the homeowners on the west side of Palmer Avenue rendered 15 feet in rear of their properties to the city as an easement so that drainage could be installed.  Of the 10 homes that were contacted, only the owners of 4304 Palmer Ave., which is located at the corner of Palmer and Euclid, refused the offer. Meanwhile, a trench was installed behind the homes of Jackson, the Jones, and the McColskeys, while the other homes, including Boatright’s and Deacon’s, stretching down to Fair Street had an underground drainage pipe installed on what was the city easement.

In the 1984, the city “abandoned” the easement, according to a memo written by Albert Kinard, director of Public Works to the Councilman-at-Large William Basford. Pappas said the abandonment occurred because changes to the City’s drainage system along Euclid Street showed that City water was no longer flowing through the easement. However, the city cleaned out the trench and drainage pipe in the 1990s and early 2000s, according to Jackson, a retired Public Works employee who has lived on Palmer Avenue more than 30 years. 

“The City has taken a stand that it is a private property issue. Even though they had an easement, they abandoned the easement decades ago, and they are now saying the issue belongs to the private property owners,” explained DeFoor before the meeting. “I have asked the city umpteen times to review the situation, and this is the position they are taking. I don’t have anybody to offer an expert’s point of view to challenge the city engineers,” she said, noting that she had suggested the residents hire their own engineer to make a report, so she could bring it to the city. 

At the meeting, Pappas and Joyce seemed surprised to learn the easement did not include the property at the corner of Euclid and Palmer Avenue. “Typically, a system that the city is responsible for has city water going through it, but this is interesting that it doesn’t go all the way,” he said. “If we had city water coming through, we would have an easement or city run, but this clearly appears to be something other than a natural run,” said Pappas.

In offering to help, Pappas said the residents would have to partner with the city, which they readily agreed to do. It was decided that the city would install a “TideFlex” valve to prevent backflow into the neighborhood from Fair Street. TideFlex systems are employed in low areas that are impacted by water intrusion from high tides, said Pappas. Meanwhile, the residents, particularly the McColskey’s who own the property where the drainage pipe empties out into the trench, would need to fill the trench in and survey the area to create necessary drainage swales that would not block the flow from neighboring properties. The idea is to have rainwater that collects in the neighborhood flow west toward Fair Street through a one-way valve and out into the river through the city’s drainage system in back of the Ortega Park development.

“Again, you have to remember there has already been a decision made by a previous director that I am kind of altering a bit,” said Pappas, referring to Kincard’s decision to abandon the city easement and revert the 15-foot easement into private property. “We need to see how we can get the TideFlex in. Typically, it takes two structures, one on each side, and we need to see if we can use the one structure that it ties into as one of them, then take the pipe out and put in another structure and put the TideFlex between,” he said.

Pappas said it would take the Public Works Department a couple of weeks to review “information,” on the system. TideFlex valves are on backorder, said DeFoor, adding it could take six to eight months to have one delivered to Jacksonville.

When questioned by Steve McColskey about who would be responsible to pump out the sediment – cups, plastic, straws, etc.—from the new drainage system in 10 years, Pappas said, “We will take care of it at the other end.”

Boatright said he had been considering hiring a company to thread a camera through the drainage pipe to look for breaks or a large amount of sediment. His neighbors indicated they might be able to band together to help pay for the camera. 

Jacksonville Director of Public Works John Pappas talks with Steve Jackson, Brooks Dame, District 14 City Councilwoman Randy DeFoor, and Rebecca Deacon and other residents about possible solutions for backyard flooding of their properties.
Jacksonville Director of Public Works John Pappas talks with Steve Jackson, Brooks Dame, District 14 City Councilwoman Randy DeFoor, and Rebecca Deacon and other residents about possible solutions for backyard flooding of their properties.

Pappas also said he was going to check into the status of an existing city pipe on Fair Street to see if it needed to be cleared of sediment and have baffle boxes installed. Duggan said the Ortega Park site engineer told him about the city pipe and suggested the city might want to clear it and install baffle boxes while the area was still a construction zone. “Their (Ortega Park’s) engineer said they would fix their siltation problem, but if the city doesn’t fix theirs, the creek will still silt in,” explained Duggan.

“We will certainly listen to it,” said Pappas. “I think there is a meeting, or something, set up to hear what they were thinking,” he said.

“Now you focus on your side, and we will focus down there,” Pappas continued, pointing toward Fair Street. “We will get our design and our costs, then at the first of the year, we can talk a little bit more. We can certainly do that for you all,” he said. 

“But we are going to get it fixed, right?” confirmed Flo McColskey, who practically jumped for joy when Pappas agreed, saying, “That’s our goal.”

Deacon and Flo McColskey said that knowing the TideFlex valve might be installed before hurricane season was a relief. “The burden has been lifted, said McColskey. “That’s music to our ears.”

By Marcia Hodgson
Resident Community News

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