The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Florida Division of Emergency Management have received the following application for Federal grant funding. Final notice is hereby given of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) consideration to provide funding in the form of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Funds will be provided in accordance with Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 93-288, as amended.

St. Lucie County, with funding support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), plans to replace the existing corrugated metal culvert with concrete box culverts and the fixed weir structure with an operable gate structure at site Control Structure #3. The project also includes upgrades to deficient and failing corrugated metal culverts at sites P-9, P-11, and P-13. These improvements are designed to meet the requirements of the County’s Hazard Mitigation Grant from FEMA and provide protection against a 10-year storm event. The goal of these enhancements is to improve the County’s resilience to future storm events and help reduce potential flood risks.

Should the community have any questions regarding the improvements, please contact Edmund Bas (SLC Project Manager) at (772)462-2184, email at Edmund.Bas@stlucieco.gov, or FDEM State Environmental Specialist Team at email MitigationEnvironmental@em.myflorida.com.

Joint Federal, State, Local Public Notice

(March 10, 2025)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Florida Division of Emergency Management have received the following application for Federal grant funding. Final notice is hereby given of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) consideration to provide funding in the form of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Funds will be provided in accordance with Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 93-288, as amended.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal actions must be reviewed and evaluated for feasible alternatives and for social, economic, historic, environmental, legal, and safety considerations. Under Executive Order (EO) 11988 and EO 11990 FEMA is required to consider alternatives to and to provide public notice of any proposed actions in or affecting floodplains or wetlands. EO 12898 also requires FEMA to provide the opportunity for public participation in the planning process and to consider potential impacts to minority or low-income populations.

Funding for the proposed project will be conditional upon compliance with all applicable federal, tribal, state and local laws, regulations, floodplain standards, permit requirements and conditions.

Applicant:

St Lucie County Board of County Commissioners

Project Title: HMGP-4337-435-R – St Lucie County, Lakewood Park Drainage

Location of Proposed Work:

The area affected by this project consists of homes in the following locations: The affected area is bounded by Fort Pierce Boulevard and Deleon Avenue along the south-north directions and North Boulevard and Miramar Avenue along the west-east directions.

Proposed Work and Purpose:

St. Lucie County proposes flood risk reduction measures for the Lakewood Park subdivision in Fort Pierce, Florida, 34946 and 34951. Specifically, the enhancements are located at four (4) particular sites on the west side of Kings Highway (State Road 713): 1) Canal 4 Control Structure, located approximately 90 feet north of the intersection of Miramar Avenue and Green Dolphin Street; 2) P-9 Culvert on the west side of the intersection of North Kings Highway and Immokalee Road; 3) P-11 Culvert at a private property entrance approximately 1.51 miles south of the intersection of North Kings Highway and Indrio Road; and 4) P-13 Culvert, situated at a private property entrance approximately 0.49 miles south of the intersection of North Kings Highway and Indrio Road.

The project proposes the construction of drainage improvements to increase the conveyance capacity of the Canal 4 as follows: 1) Canal 4 Control Structure: Project includes replacing the existing fixed weir structure for a new gated control structure, removal of existing 6-foot diameter reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) culvert and installation of a new 9-foot by 6-foot concrete box culvert of approximately 40 linear feet length. Additional activities include the construction of concrete headwalls, aluminum grate skimmer, sluice gate, and necessary demolition and restoration of concrete sidewalk, guardrails, and relocation of utilities. 2) P-9 Culvert: Project includes the installation of an additional 84-inch diameter corrugated metal pipe (CMP) culvert of approximately 80 linear feet length parallel to the existing one. Additional activities include the necessary demolition and restoration of concrete road, headwalls and guardrails, and relocation of utilities. 3) P-11 Culvert: Project includes the removal of an existing 7-foot diameter CMP and installation of a new 12-foot 5-inch by 8-foot 6-inch horizontal ellipse, 12-inch gauge galvanized multiplate steel culvert of approximately 63 linear feet long. Additional activities include the necessary demolition and restoration of concrete road, signage, headwalls and guardrails, and relocation of utilities. 4) P-13 Culvert: Project includes the removal of an existing 7-foot diameter CMP culvert and installation of a new 11-foot 4-inch by 7-foot 6-inch horizontal ellipse, 12-inch gauge galvanized multi-plate steel culvert of approximately 80 linear feet long. Additional activities include the necessary demolition and restoration of concrete road, signage, headwalls and guardrails, and relocation of utilities.

The Lakewood Park subdivision is located northwest of downtown Fort Pierce, Florida, consisting of residential and light commercial areas constructed in the 1950s. The area has experienced chronic flooding over the years, and St. Lucie County Public Works Department must utilize bypass pumps to remove water from the subdivision throughout rainy seasons. Currently, the major cause of persistent flooding in the area is the limited capacity of the control structure of the Canal 4, controlled by a fixed weir structure which contributes to extended drawdown times on the north (upstream) side of the structure, requiring pumping to bypass the weir to allow Lakewood Park to recover its very limited capacity for storage of runoff in a timely manner during extended periods of rains. During major storm events, such as Irma in 2017, the flooding in the area persisted for weeks after the storm. The limited water discharge capacity is exacerbated by the existing undersized culvert structures P-9, P-11 and P-13, located downstream of the control structure, which are included as part of the project. Once completed, the project shall allow the county considerable operational flexibility for the regulation of water levels within the canal, improving the conveyance of stormwater out of Lakewood Park and easing chronic flooding concerns within the subdivision after major storm events. The project considerably reduces or eliminates the need for bypass pumping around the current control structure, and substantially improves the stormwater conveyance for the Canal 4 as it discharges to Canal 1, having a considerable positive impact on stormwater recovery within the subdivision. The project shall help to decrease current upstream water elevations stages during large storm events, substantially reducing repetitive road loss of service and damages, as well as residential structural, content, and displacement costs.

The project shall be constructed to provide protection to the roads against a 10-year flood event. Activities shall be completed in strict compliance with Federal, State, and Local applicable Rules and Regulations.

Project Alternatives:

The alternatives to the project that have been and will be considered are 1) the no-action alternative and 2) the design and construction of a pump station to transfer excess stormwater to a detention pond. These alternatives to the proposed project are not viable because under Alternative 1) repetitive flooding is not alleviated and the needs of the community would not be served; and Alternative 2) the cost of acquiring property for a pond site, designing and constructing a large detention pond, pump station, and stormwater pipe conveyance system would be very expensive.

Comment Period:

Comments are solicited from the public; local, state or federal agencies; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of the proposed project. The comments should be made in writing and addressed to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Bureau of Mitigation, 2555 Shumard Oak Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100. These are due within 30 days of this notice. The State will forward comments to applicable regulatory agencies as needed. Interested persons may submit comments, obtain more detailed information about the proposed action, or request a copy of the findings by contacting:

Edmund Bas, P.E. – Project Manager

St Lucie County Public Works

772-462-2184

Edmund.Bas@stlucieco.gov

State Environmental Specialist Team

Florida Division of Emergency Management

MitigationEnvironmental@em.myflorida.com