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Redington Shores denies drain removal request

But Redington Shores officials say the drain is integral to a townwide project to improve stormwater drainage.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published August 21, 2005

REDINGTON SHORES - Barbara and Sonny Futrell are upset.

A newly installed storm drain destroys the view of and from their front yard, and they don't need it, they say.

They want it moved or taken out.

The town has refused.

Officials say that moving the drain would cost too much and that - even more importantly - removal could hamper the effectiveness of a new townwide storm drainage system now under construction.

"If the contractors had just taken notice of where they were installing it. If they had just put it over 5 feet and run the pipe diagonally across the street, it wouldn't have been a problem," Barbara Futrell told the commission during a special meeting Thursday.

The drain sits on the town right of way in direct line with the Futrells' front door and is visible from a recently renovated front porch where the couple regularly sit to enjoy their yard and a water view across their street.

"I built the porch so we can sit there for the view," Sonny Futrell said, "and all we can see is the drain." He also worries that standing water in the drain could cause a mosquito problem.

"If we start moving to accommodate individuals, we'll end up moving 20 or 50 or 200," Commissioner Marshall Reynolds told the Futrells. "If we ended up moving a lot of them, it would just be an incredible burden on the town financially."

Vice Mayor Launa Lishamer said it would cost $4,500 to move the drain.

"The commission doesn't want to do the expenditure," she told the Futrells.

According to project manager Dave Pelham, moving or eliminating the storm drain would adversely affect the drainage system designed by his firm, Cumbey and Fair Inc.

"I tried to explain to her (Mrs. Futrell) that we were trying to solve drainage problems throughout the area, and to do so required the inlet on her side of the street," Pelham wrote in a recent e-mail to the town. "Without it, she will have water standing in front of her house." Eliminating or capping the drain would cause even more problems, he said, and directly hurt 20 nearby homes - including the home of Vice Mayor Lishamer.

"The good of the whole outweighs the good of the one," Pelham wrote.

The storm drainage project is part of a larger townwide project estimated to cost about $4-million.

Planning to correct flooding caused by storm draining problems throughout the town began almost four years ago. The town hired engineers to draw up plans and secured grants from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, commonly known as Swiftmud. "We've spent thousands of dollars on elevations and surveys," said Lishamer, who spearheaded much of the project planning. "We rely on our engineers. If they have designed a certain way, there is a reason. We really have to go with what they are recommending for the whole town."

The first $1.4-million phase of the construction project began last month and covers about one-fourth of the town, including homes from 174th Avenue to the northern border of the town between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

In addition to new storm pipes and drains, the town is installing catch basins that will filter stormwater before it is discharged into the bay. The roadways will be redesigned and repaved with Miami curbing, which helps direct stormwater runoff into the drainage system.

And, town officials say, the drain in front of the Futrell home was placed in the "ideal spot" to move stormwater off the town's streets and eventually into the bay.

"It's a heck of a good project," said Town Administrator Don Lusk. He said he has not received any other complaints about placement of the storm drains.

[Last modified August 21, 2005, 00:50:20]