- February 7, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
In a 5-0 vote, the Port Orange City Council approved a $750,000 grant agreement with the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection that will go toward the Virginia and Monroe Avenue drainage and water quality project, officially called the Port Orange Flooding Mitigation and Stormwater Quality Improvement project.
The city had previously asked for $1,500,000 from the State during the legislative session. Of this amount, only half was approved by the legislature. The money will help fund the completion of the project, which will be constructed in the area of Virginia Avenue and Monroe Street where flooding has been an issue.
The focus of the project is to mitigate the flooding in that area and prevent tidal effects from the Halifax River. According to the project description, pump stations will be constructed in addition to adjusting the elevation of existing stormwater ponds while also adding additional stormwater ponds and installing stormwater force mains.
There are plans to install inlets and stormwater pipes to assist with stormwater pond drainage throughout the area.
Assistant City Manager Alan Rosen previously told the Port Orange Observer that the city still needs to complete the rest of the project design as well as purchase land to construct more stormwater ponds and create connectivity between those ponds and the Halifax River. This would be meant to increase the capacity for stormwater conveyance in order to provide more places for the water to drain.
Rosen said the project would also divert debris collected in the water to the ponds before being pumped out to increase the capacity to filter what is going into the river. This includes reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that ends up in the Halifax. The amount of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants entering the river is expected to be reduced by approximately 133 and 27 pounds per year, according to the city's grant work plan.
