County Receives $500,000 Grant for Thomas Creek Restoration

2/12/2016

In December 2015, the Board of County Commissioners applied for a Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) Innovative Projects Grant through the St. Johns River Water Management District in an effort to obtain funding to restore another portion of Thomas Creek. The County received notification yesterday that it will be receiving $500,000 for Stage VII of the restoration project.

Stage VII of the project consists of de-snagging 6,000 feet of the creek in order to remove dead trees, uprooted trunks, and limbs from Thomas Creek to alleviate flooding issues experienced to adjacent properties and to improve water quality. Over 20,000 feet of the creek has already been de-snagged during the first six phases of the project, a majority of which has been funded through various grants.

Attached are maps that reflect information related to all seven phases of the project including the length of creek restored for each phase and a list of identified properties along the creek that have benefitted from this project.

If you have any questions about the Thomas Creek Restoration Project, please contact Nassau County Engineering Services at (904) 530-6225.

-Sabrina Robertson
County Manager's Office

2 Comments

Kathy Koch

2/12/2016 02:06:48 pm

What happened to the desnagging of Thomas Creek to those of us that live on Lee Stoner Rd? Right now, our backyard IS Thomas Creek!! We are flooded again. Our ditches haven't been dug out or cleaned in years, although we call the county about once a month. The creek is so full of fallen trees, stumps, weeds that the water has no where to go, so it backs up in our yard! We sure wish some of that $500,000 grant would be used clean up Thomas Creek behind us. According to this article, it has been but guess what? That's a lie!!!

Sabrina Robertson link

2/17/2016 01:59:32 pm

This message is in response to your comment on The County Insider’s website on Friday, February 12, 2016. I will attempt to respond to each concern you expressed.

1. With regards to the phases of Thomas Creek that have taken place:

The Phasing Map shown in the original story posted on Friday, February 12, 2016 is accurate. Below is some more information related to de-snagging of Thomas Creek for Phases I and II, both of which were in the vicinity of Lee Stoner Road.
Phase I

In October 2010, the County contracted with Hayward Construction Company in the amount of $325,000 for desnagging 3,000 feet of Thomas Creek as described in the Scope of Service (attachment CM1661 emailed to you). This work took place during the time period of November 16, 2010 through January 24, 2011.

Phase II
In March 2011, the Board again contracted with Hayward Construction to de-snag another 3,565 feet of Thomas Creek, as shown in the Scope of Services (attachment CM1724 emailed to you). This portion of the project was paid for by Community Development Block Grant Funding in the amount of $360,400. This work took place during the time period of June 22, 2011 through August 30, 2011.

The County has progress reports from the contractor that contain descriptions of activities that took place for each day while the projects were underway, as well as photos of the crews at work and piles of debris removed from the creek. We will be happy to share those with you. Please keep in mind that Phases I and II were completed in 2011, which was nearly five years ago. It is very possible that more trees and vegetation have settled into the creek. To state that no work has been done is an inaccurate statement.

2. The Road & Bridge Department has reviewed calls and work orders submitted over the last two years for complaints related to the ditches on Lee Stoner Road. There are two calls on record, both of which are from you, requesting the ditches to be cleaned out. The first call was dated October 17, 2014. A work order was issued, however the work was not completed until September 22, 2015. The second call in the file is dated December 7, 2015. A work order has been issued however it has yet to be completed. Unfortunately, due to staff shortages and down equipment, it takes anywhere from 6 months to a year for work orders to be completed.
We understand your frustration with the flooding this area which is why the County continuously seeks funding to help cover costs related to this issue so more sections of the creek can be addressed. We welcome you the opportunity to review the files related to the Thomas Creek Restoration Project. You may also contact the County’s Engineering Department at (904) 530-6225 to ask any questions you may have.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Nassau County, Florida

County Receives $500,000 Grant for Thomas Creek Restoration

Leave a Reply.

Archives

Categories