Grove Road drainage draws attention

BROOKSVILLE -- The swift-running water that floods their front yard after every rain brought Lyle and Carla Ecker to the county government center Monday in search of help.

The Eckers thought that when they sold part of their Grove Road property to the county in 2000 for a drainage retention pond, that the flooding would end. But the road's ditches don't contain the runoff, they complained, and a new retention wall running along Brookridge on the other side of the road has worsened the situation.

"We've still got the same problem we had before, except now we've got a hole in our front yard," Lyle Ecker said as he waited for the chance to speak with any county official who would talk to the couple.

Commissioner Diane Rowden passed by, and took the Eckers to meet with Gregg Sutton, the assistant county engineer, who had not been available when they first tried to see him. During the hourlong meeting that followed, the couple learned that the county was trying to fix the drainage and paving deficits of Grove Road, a 2-mile stretch just west of the Suncoast Parkway.

Sutton told them that he had met Friday with representatives from the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Brookridge board of directors to seek a solution to the storm water drainage problems. Brookridge has some undeveloped property in the low-lying areas, Sutton said, and its leaders will look into acquiring and deeding it to the county for a retention pond.

The subdivision asked for 30 days to see if such a deal could work, Sutton said. "We explored with them the art of the possible,"he said.

Lyle Ecker accepted the answer, but doubted that anything positive would result.

"In my heart, I don't really believe Brookridge is going to give in unless someone orders them to do it," he said, adding that the subdivision erected the retention wall without concern for its neighbors. "If we're waiting until the end of August to see if (Brookridge is) going to do it, let's make them take the berm down and then see if they'll do it."

He praised Rowden for helping him get answers when it seemed as though he was hitting a brick wall.

Rowden planned to call Swiftmud on the couple's behalf. "What's important for the Eckers is to at least have people that they know that understand they have a problem and that they're not avoiding them," she said.

Sutton said he hoped that the problems would not get caught up in a battle over runoff between the people on the east and west sides of Grove Road.

"We're trying to rise above that and come up with the ultimate resolution for the drainage issue," he said.

He suggested that relief would come more easily for people who have complained about the general condition of the road.

In June, some residents told commissioners that their narrow, two-lane road was eroding on the sides and was full of patches and potholes in the middle. After enduring heavy traffic as a haul road for parkway construction, the road needed help, they said.

But the contractor had reneged on its promise to bring the road back to acceptable conditions, County Administrator Richard Radacky said at the time.

Sutton said the Florida Department of Transportation had taken responsibility for the impact and would give about $61,000 toward road repairs. The county plans to begin repaving Grove Road before January.

-- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Hernando County government and can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright