County awards Transform 386 funds for four Port Orange stormwater projects

Volusia County District 2 Councilman Matt Reinhardt announced that county officials approved more than $21 million from the Transform 386 program to fund four Port Orange stormwater projects aimed at reducing neighborhood flooding.

The funds will pay for a new stormwater retention pond and high-capacity pump station in Sugar Forest; two new ponds and a railroad outfall upgrade in the Portona area; expanded conveyance piping, a new pump station and an outfall to Rose Bay in Sleepy Hollow; and a pond and control structure on Powers Avenue tied to the Halifax Canal. “This project will provide stronger protection for families in the Sugar Forest and greater peace of mind, when storms approach,” Reinhardt said.

The money announced is part of a mix of federal and state resilience funding the county and city pursued, county and city officials said. City staff described preliminary engineering: the Sugar Forest plan includes more than 8,000 feet of new force main pipeline to carry water to a new Halifax River outfall; Portona will add two ponds and a new backflow-prevention device beneath the railroad; Sleepy Hollow’s work will consolidate smaller ponds, add piping and a pump station and create a new outfall to Rose Bay; and the Powers Avenue pond will connect into the Halifax Canal and reduce flooding along Dunlop Avenue and Spruce Creek Road, an evacuation route.

City Manager (city staff) said the county will be the lead agency administering the Transform 386 grants and handling federal paperwork and payments. “They are the lead agency on these projects. They...are running the money through the federal government,” the manager said; the city will continue to provide design and construction oversight where it can. Officials expect joint project agreements between the county and city to spell out responsibilities and timelines; those agreements are likely to appear in coming council meetings.

Officials walked through a near-term schedule and funding mix. Cambridge — a related stormwater subproject funded largely through FEMA for prior storm damage — is nearly through design and is expected to go to bid late this year and begin construction in the first quarter of 2026. Sugar Forest is in design and approaching 60% complete; city staff said they have applied for additional Resilient Florida grant money to supplement Transform 386 funds. Sleepy Hollow’s design work is expected in 2026 with construction in 2027. Portona and Powers are smaller in scale and expected to move more quickly once agreements and permits are in place.

City staff also described temporary mitigation steps tested during recent rain events, including localized pumps and trial conveyance solutions that helped move water out of at-risk neighborhoods. The manager said staff will continue to explore short-term pumping options and will pursue federal, state and county permits as required. Officials emphasized that many long-term solutions require regulatory approvals and engineering work that can add months or years to construction timelines.

Public comment and council members during the meeting echoed resident concerns about ongoing flooding in Nova Canal subbasins and asked the county and state to cooperate on regional solutions. The county and city said the upcoming Nova Canal basin study — jointly managed by county and state agencies — will be critical to addressing the larger regional drainage issues that contribute to repeated home flooding.

The county and city will return to the council with project agreements, more-detailed timelines and engineering milestones as the projects move from design into construction.