TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Peter D. Lear, CPA, CGMA, City Manager
TITLE: Recognize the City of North Port Department of Public Works for receipt of the Florida Chapter of the American Public Works Association’s 2019 Project of the Year Award for the Deming Stormwater Improvement Project.
Recommended Action
Recognition of the City of North Port Department of Public Works for receipt of the Florida Chapter of the American Public Works Association’s 2019 Project of the Year Award for the Deming Stormwater Improvement Project.
Background Information
On February 21, 2020, the City of North Port Department of Public Works was presented the 2019 Project of the Year Award for the Deming Stormwater Improvement Project by the Florida Suncoast Chapter of the American Public Works Association.
The Deming Stormwater Improvement Project involved correcting inverted driveways in an older North Port neighborhood built in the 1950’s. In this type of system, the water flows over the driveway instead of under the driveway through a culvert. Since the driveways were made of asphalt between the sidewalk and edge of roadway, over time they crumbled, and the stormwater constantly pooled in the void. Also, over the years, palm trees had been planted in the middle of the swales. The standing water in the swales and driveways was so prevalent that residents constructed make-shift bridges to span the swale to get to their mailboxes.
To correct the problem, City staff came up with the solution to use a trench drain system, a u-shaped box with a traffic bearing grate lid that could be used in the driveways and would keep the grade shallow enough to utilize the existing open swale system. The Project was planned, surveyed, engineered, designed and completed in-house.
The Project took four months to complete; 39 trench boxes were installed, 44 driveways rehabilitated, eight catch basins installed, and 3,076 linear feet of swales were rehabilitated.
This Project demonstrated that problematic infrastructure can be improved with innovative solutions.
Jason Yarborough, Assistant City Manager, Juliana B. Bellia, Public Works Director, and Chuck Speake, Operations and Maintenance Manager, accepted the Award on behalf of the City of North Port Department of Public Works.
Strategic Plan
Infrastructure
Financial Impact
None
Procurement
None
Attachments:
1. None
Prepared by: Chuck Speake, Operations and Maintenance Manager
Department Director: Juliana B. Bellia