Fixing the Sarasota Ditch begins NOW!

Great news on a project in District 1 that has been a long time coming!!

Sarasota Street in the Floridian Subdivision off of Blue Angel Parkway has had a big problem brewing for over a decade.   The backyards of 7 houses were being eroded and were falling into a massive gully on the adjacent property.

For years, residents tried and tried to get action on this problem--with no luck.

About two years ago, I met with residents and said I would commit staff and resources to the issue.  We looked at MSBU's, which were not a workable option.  I ponied up $400K of D1 discretionary LOST money to make the project go.  Between the staff, enginerring, and legal---we developed a plan and put the project in motion.  Recently--staff was successful at having the project funded through a grant--which is a tremendous win because it puts my discretionary allocation back in the county coffers where it can be used for other worthwhile drainage and infrastructure construction.

Kudos to neighbors who pushed (especially Zoey DiChristopher) and for staff that were steadfast in brining this project to fruition.  I look forward to getting this solved and completed by early next year.

It took too long---but perseverance pays!  See County's Notice of Commencement, below.

Good News Gets Covered!

 

At last Thursday's meeting of the Escambia Board of County Commissioners--two long simmering projects in District 1 were finally approved by the board.  I incorrectly predicted that neither of these stories would be covered by the media--and I was right until I saw that the PNJ actually did a fair piece on one of these two projects--District 1's first public library going to contract.

The second project, a decade long struggle to get the necessary easements to effect a repair of a storm drain that was literally resulting in several residents of the Floridian subdivision off of Blue Angel Hwy losing their back yards to this ditch-- received no coverage.  (Part 1 of this heavy lift for the Floridian Ditch occurred on February 6, 2020 [p.21-22] when the board approved the $940,000 necessary to fund the construction and design of this repair)

But both of these projects represent the good things that happen in the county every month.  Every month our staff works to finish worthwhile projects like this library and the regional drainage solution for Sarasota Street within the Floridian subdivision.

These and similar projects--including dozens and dozens of smaller ones--are completed by our dedicated staff week in and week out.

I get it that it is extra sexy to only run us down and report that which is salacious and unflattering.  We get it, fixing the ditch so a family does not see their backyard slide down into it, is not something that many are going to find intriguing.

Covering the repaving of a community or the installation of a drainage pond is just too mundane for our media and their minute by minute news cycle.

So today, at least in this one instance,  we got one good story out that is not a negative shot at elected commissioners and dedicated county employees just trying to do their jobs as best they can....