The New Smyrna Beach City Commission last week approved a joint agreement with Volusia County to begin the bidding process for the Corbin Park stormwater improvements project.
The city last November received a $6 million grant from the county’s Transfrom386 program to cover a large portion of the project’s estimated $8.4 million cost. The program aims to help fund disaster recovery efforts across Volusia County, including stormwater mitigation and infrastructure projects.
One of the several recurrently flood-stricken neighborhoods in the city, especially during Hurricane Ian in 2022 and again last year during Hurricane Milton, Corbin Park’s stormwater infrastructure needs updating, according to the city.
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The project area is over 400 acres, bounded by State Road 44 to the north, Turnbull Creek to the east, Magnolia Drive to the south, and Bolton Road to the west.
It aims to “implement a stormwater management system in the Corbin Park subdivision, which was developed without the benefits associated with modern design standards,” according to the city.
Water floods the intersection of Corbin Park Road and Paige Avenue, right in front the Athearns’ home and their neighbors’, in New Smyrna Beach, after Hurricane Ian in 2022.
The agreement signed last week establishes “mutual cooperation” between the city and county, making the county responsible for overseeing the construction phase after both parties agree on who to award the contract to.
“The county is going to manage the project here on out,” said Kyle Fegley, the city’s engineer, in an interview last week. “They go out to bid, and we just have to pay our proportionate share.”
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Corbin Park’s stormwater improvements project is one of several planned across New Smyrna Beach.
Ian left “widespread flooding” in the neighborhood from the 21 inches of rain dumped over the city. The situation accentuated the struggle the neighborhood has had over many years with heavy rain events, which recurrently lead to flooding.
This prompted the city to “embark upon a plan and study to design drainage infrastructure to provide some relief for the subdivision.”
“It’s a retrofit project,” Fegley said. “You can’t design for a 100-year storm. You can only design for the capacity of the system you’re putting in.”
Water floods homes along Paige Avenue and intersections in the Corbin Park neighborhood in New Smyrna Beach, after Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Some of the constraints the project faces – all of which “limit the available area for drainage improvements,” according to the city – include:
Established residential finished floor elevations that do not meet guidelines.
A lack of defined stormwater retention areas to capture runoff.
Limited roadway and right-of-way widths that do not have adjoining easements, and pre-existing infrastructure installed by multiple service providers.”
Therefore, the focus of the design is to create a system that can handle the smaller, summer afternoon storms.
Work will involve “installing several thousand feet of conveyance pipe, inlet and outlet structures with backflow preventers, and other drainage improvements along with the utility and roadway modifications necessary to accommodate them,” according to the city.
“That will help the area recover as well. It will help the water drain out quicker,” Fegley said.
Another challenge: Turnbull Creek
The plan, as per the design, is for the new pipes to convey runoff into the Turnbull Creek, which the city has recently finished dredging and cleaning out as part of another $1.3-million, grant-funded project with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Dredging crews work to remove debris from Turnbull Creek south of State Road 44 in New Smyrna Beach as part of the Turnbull Creek dredging project.
In the last few years, the accumulation of sediment in the creek and the fact that Turnbull Bay is influenced by tides have also led to backflow issues during storm surge events.
While improvements will provide some protection against storm surge, “until the creek recedes, the efficiency of improvements will be limited,” according to the city.
“At our discharge points, we are going to put some backflow-type devices on there, so the water can’t come back into the stormwater system, but it can discharge out,” Fegley said.
With the challenges facing the neighborhood’s stormwater infrastructure, Fegley said the system, even with the improvements, is not designed to handle the 21 inches of rain from Ian.
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“If you really want to (prepare) for a larger storm, you would need to have a regional lift station and pond, a large reservoir,” he said. “That’s a whole different approach.”
City, county to work together as Corbin Park project moves forward
The county will be responsible for the “infrastructure improvements, material testing, scheduling, maintenance of traffic and addressing citizens’ concerns,” he added, while the city’s part of designing the project is done.
But Fegley and city staff will still assist the county whenever necessary, participating in progress meetings and other duties. He also knows that because residents are familiar with him and his team, they will likely reach out to him with concerns during the construction phase.
“I’m quite confident I will receive a lot of input throughout the duration of the project,” Fegley said. “I will be the liaison as much as possible for residents and the community.”
Fegley said the bidding process is likely to take about 3-6 months until the city and county sign off on a contract.
“A project of this magnitude,” he said, “is probably going to be a two-year project.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NSB’s Corbin Park stormwater improvements project to start bid process