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Sebastian approves policy to repair driveway issues, address flooding

Janet Begley
Special to TCPalm
One residential road in Sebastian remained flooded Oct. 2, 2017, after a recent storm. Residents along streets prone to flooding could see some relief now that the City Council has unanimously approved a plan to fix clogged or broken pipes under private driveways.

SEBASTIAN — Residents along streets prone to flooding could see some relief now that the City Council has unanimously approved a plan to fix clogged or broken pipes under private driveways.

The stormwater plan, which has the city paying $1,004 to repair each 20-foot driveway, will concentrate along streets with the most significant flooding issues.

“We all know that by ordinance, the responsibility for the flow lines and the under-driveway pipes is the responsibility of the property owner,” said City Manager Joe Griffin. “But frankly, it would be nice to say we have 50 percent participation in keeping those things being cleared but it’s more like 20 (percent) or 30 percent, and this impacts the roads.

"It’s not coincidental where we have swale and under-driveway pipe collapses, we have blockages and water backs up on the roads and the roads start deteriorating," he said.

Griffin proposed a program to cure the swale and ditch problem and then to repave roads.

Repairs would be made in city-block sections by Florida Site Contracting of Vero Beach, the low bidder for the project. After repairs and repaving of driveways, it would be up to homeowners to maintain the improvements.

Not everyone was pleased with the plan.

Resident James Clifton told the council he has a lot of concerns about the new policy.

“Can property owners opt out?” Clifton asked. “I don’t feel like I should be financially responsible for maintaining the system. It should be a city obligation. The policy is punitive.”

But council members disagreed, and said the policy will go a long way to helping resolve long-standing drainage problems.

“We can’t correct the flow of water without correcting the driveways,” said Councilman Ed Dodd. “I don’t see the policy as punitive.”

In addition to approving the new stormwater policy, the council agreed to spend $32,250 for an engineering study for improvements to Indian River Drive along Sebastian’s waterfront. MBV Engineering of Vero Beach will design a plan for road improvements that will be phased-in over several years.