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Residents clamor for unclogged canals but who pays?

Officials and residents disagree on who'll fund the dredging of Tampa Bay's silt-clogged waterways.

By EDDY RAMIREZ and JANET ZINK
Published April 8, 2005

When Ellie Montague moved into her Sunset Park home in 1967, her three children fished and navigated a boat through canals that lead into Old Tampa Bay.

"It was a play land," Montague said. "It was pristine."

That's not the case now.

Silt has clogged the canals, making it difficult to maneuver boats through them and keeping water from filling a lake near Montague's home.

The scene is reminiscent of other waterfront communities in Tampa and unincorporated Hillsborough, including Apollo Beach and Town 'N Country, where residents also complain about the sludge and muck that blocks boats, smothers wildlife and threatens property values.

"It's terrible," said Jerry Roberts, who lives along a canal in Apollo Beach. "If we don't dredge these channels soon, all we're going to have left is a mosquito pond."

For years, canal residents have demanded that elected officials follow the example of other Florida local governments and commit funds to dredge and maintain miles of clogged waterways.

But dredging can be expensive, and the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County have traditionally refused to spend taxpayer money on a project that they say mostly benefits the few people living along the water.

The city of Tampa has 31 canals in the Westshore and Davis Islands neighborhoods, including 20 that are less than 3 feet deep and, therefore, candidates for dredging. A report from a consultant hired by the city in 2000 estimated it would cost $20-million to do the job.

Residents and city officials have been battling for more than a decade over who should pay to clean up the canals.

The city has said residents should help pay because natural tidewaters cause some of the silt buildup. Consider it the price of living on the water.

Residents say the city should bear the financial burden because an inadequate stormwater system caused the clogging. As evidence, they note that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection fined the city in 2003 for not doing enough to keep polluted stormwater from fouling the waterways.

The fine came with an order to install 28 sediment traps by 2008 on the end of stormwater pipes throughout the city to reduce the amount of debris swept into waterways from streets and construction sites.

City workers have installed six traps along the Hillsborough River. Nine have been put in the Westshore area and 10 more are scheduled to be installed this year, said Alex Awad, the city's manager for development and consumer affairs.

This year the city will apply for a $2.3-million federal Environmental Protection Agency grant for additional cleanup, said Chuck Walter, who heads Tampa's stormwater department.

Tampa also has been approved for a $1.2-million EPA grant, which requires a 45 percent match. The matching funds could come from city coffers, additional grants or residents through a tax. The city hasn't determined the best source, Walter said.

Montague, who has been fighting the dredging issue for years, said she'd pay for the cleanup "over my dead body."

"How can they turn around and say that we have to be responsible for our waterways? It's them who are polluting it. They've already been fined," she said.

In Hillsborough County, commissioners are working to come up with a solution that may result in a cost-sharing program.

"This is an age-old problem that hasn't been addressed," said Marianne Cufone, an environmental lawyer and a member of a group called Save Our Canals.

Since last May, the group of 21 homeowners associations in the Town 'N Country area has lobbied commissioners to spend money and resources on a long-term maintenance plan that could restore the county's creeks, lakes, stormwater ditches, channels and canals to their former pristine condition.

County officials are considering an ordinance that would allow waterfront residents to petition the county to hire a consultant to determine the cost.

Then, if a majority of residents agreed to the price tag, the county would levy a special tax on canal property owners to pay for the work. County staff would use the money to secure permits and hire a contractor. The tax would exist for a maximum of 20 years or until the debt is paid.

The county could agree to shoulder some of the dredging costs if studies show stormwater caused the problem.

Commissioners plan to hold a workshop in the coming weeks to determine whether to move ahead with the ordinance or consider other alternatives. The county has set a hearing for late April to debate a proposed hike in stormwater fees.

Under that proposal, the county would set aside 10 percent of the revenues to install sediment traps on stormwater pipes, which would keep sand and debris from seeping into canals.

Bob Gordon, Hillsborough's public works director, said the special tax district appears to be the most equitable way for waterfront residents to dredge neighborhood canals. Inland residents who don't use the canals "won't necessarily see the benefits of their tax dollars being used to dredge someone else's canal," he said.

Already waterfront homeowners are cringing at any suggestion that they should have to pay, even partially, to dredge waterways that they say are used by boaters and anglers from inland areas.

Joseph DiPaula, an Apollo Beach canal resident, objects to the idea that only waterfront homeowners should have to incur another tax. He believes they already pay too much and other boaters who don't live in Apollo Beach should share the financial burden.

"There are people who come out here every Saturday - 20, 30 boats from Lord knows where - and they use these waterways all year round," he said. "(The costs) need to be spread throughout the county."

Julie Algood, who lives on a canal in the Westshore area, said she doesn't want to be targeted as a funding source for cleaning out South Tampa's waterways because it's the responsibility of residents throughout the city. The issue is not about boating on the waterway. It's about pollution.

"It's coming into our back yards and it's from all over the city," Algood said. "That's not fair."

[Last modified April 7, 2005, 08:55:10]