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Letter to the editor

Course dropped as flood fix

The county backs out of its plan to buy the Tarpon Woods golf course to build retention ponds.

By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published September 29, 2007

EAST LAKE - Pinellas County has dropped the idea of buying the Tarpon Woods golf course and building ponds there to alleviate chronic flooding in the area.

The county is no longer pursuing a $4-million grant for that purpose, either.

County officials killed the idea after a study by Tampa Bay Engineering of Clearwater concluded that storing stormwater on the golf course would not ease seasonal flooding in Tarpon Woods.

The news did not come as a surprise to opponents.

"We felt that this was the direction they were headed in," said Tarpon Woods resident Arthur "Buzzy" Davis, 65, a retired judge from New Hampshire.

Pinellas officials requested the state grant in May. The plan was to buy the 150-acre golf course and use some or all of it for stormwater storage. But residents were skeptical of the plan and worried that losing the golf course would drag down property values.

And residents weren't alone in their opposition to the grant.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Tarpon Springs, had both come out against the grant, saying the idea was premature, at best.

At a public meeting Thursday night with nearly 400 residents at East Lake High School, Tampa Bay Engineering transportation division vice president Peter Nikolov presented seven options that his firm considered for solving the neighborhood's drainage problem.

The problem is one of moving water, not storing it, Nikolov said.

Two existing ponds north of Tarpon Woods Boulevard near Brian Lane North and Toniwood Lane are like a kitchen sink, he said, and Brooker Creek is like the drain. In times of flooding, the drain is not big enough to empty the sink before it overflows. You can make a bigger drain, he said, or you can add a pipe to the side.

"You've got to open up the waterways," Nikolov said.

Other than the now-rejected option of buying the golf course, the seven alternatives TBE looked at somehow involved widening Brooker Creek or adding a ditch, channel, culvert or pipe farther east of the creek to help drain water faster. Some alternatives took the water underground at greater cost and some were at ground level. Estimated costs ranged from $5.4-million to $22.3-million.

Five alternatives involve a secondary overflow channel, culvert, pipe or paved ditch. And one alternative would widen Brooker Creek north of Tarpon Woods Boulevard.

The benchmark storm the study looked at was a 25-year flooding event that would put about 2 feet of water on Toniwood Lane. Nikolov said the roads in the Tarpon Woods subdivision were designed to hold some water, but not so much that vehicles can't drive on them or that water spreads to houses.

The Tarpon Woods Action Committee, which helped bring out the big crowd Thursday night, has opposed buying the golf course and is working with the county to help solve the flooding situation.

Davis, a member of the action committee and a golfer, said he lives just off the golf course and has "probably the prettiest view on the golf course." He said he watched deer and turkeys from his home the night before.

Davis analyzed the alternatives from a golfer's perspective for the group, commenting on how long various choices would put course holes out of play. He favored building an open concrete culvert to the east of the creek at a cost of $9-million.

Pinellas County officials said they were pleased at the turnout Thursday night, but they would like to hear from others over the next two weeks or so. County staff plans to present the Tampa Bay Engineering study and public comments to the County Commission in November.

In any case, a long-term solution to the area's flooding will not come until the Southwest Florida Water Management District finishes a study of the Brooker Creek watershed. That won't be done until December 2008.

Studying the whole watershed is important because a lot of is farther north in Hillsborough County.

"Any improvements to divert the water from the northern part of the basin will reduce the improvements needed in the Tarpon Woods area," said Jan Herbst, director of Pinellas County Public Works Department.

Besides the Swiftmud study, other questions remain:

- Will the golf course owner grant the easements needed for the work?

- How would the various alternatives affect the environment?

- How and where would the county mitigate for intruding on wetlands or the floodplain?

- How would play on the golf course be affected?

- And who, one homeowner asked, would compensate residents financially for a deterioration in their view if a concrete culvert replaces the natural creek they now have for a view?

Nikolov did put one apparently widely held misconception to rest.

Contrary to what some have said, opening the flood gates downstream in the Lake Tarpon outfall canal will not help flooding north of Tarpon Woods Boulevard.

He patiently explained that to the audience - twice.

Fast facts

Make your voice heard

Pinellas County is seeking comments on the flooding problem in Tarpon Woods and possible solutions for the next two weeks or so. You can mail them to Pinellas County Public Works Department, 440 Court St., Clearwater, 33756, or go to the Tarpon Woods Action Committee Web site at www.tarponwoodscommunity.com.

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 21:41:03]