Miller Lake residents press Volusia County for action as high water continues

Residents of the Miller Lake neighborhood pressed Volusia County officials on March 18 for quicker action after repeated flooding left some yards and retention islands underwater and killed long-standing trees.

During the councils public-participation period, multiple residents described high lake levels and urged the county to restart pumps, revoke or re-examine a 02/2017 permit they say directs commercial stormwater into Miller Lake, and improve communications about relief plans.

Paul Richardson, a public speaker, said standard time is healthier and then also asked to be reappointed to the Cultural Council. David Hill said the lake was rising roughly two inches a week even without rain and flagged dead oaks on a county retention island. He told the council that a 02/2017 Royal Oaks permit "was supposed to be for a weir and outfall discharge pipe for Royal Oaks" and asked the county to consider revocation. Peggy Hill showed photos and said the lake is almost exactly where it was two weeks prior and warned that, unless water is reduced to pre-2017 levels, a normal summer storm could push the roadway and houses underwater. Joshua Rivera asked the council "please turn the pumps back on" and called the permits impacts "horrendous." Tony Frank described millings and road repairs and said the neighborhood has been told the county cannot pump water onto private property.

County manager George Recktenwald and Public Works Director Ben Bartlett answered during the meeting and afterward. Recktenwald said the county had stopped emergency pumping because the authorizing order from the St. Johns River Water Management District had ended and because the DeBary borrow pit that earlier received pumped water was full. He told the council the district controls lake elevations and permits and that the county must coordinate with the district before restarting pumps.

Bartlett displayed drone photos taken after recent storms showing the lake drawdown compared with peak conditions and said the county had purchased one low-lying property on Miller Lake that previously flooded. He said the countys earlier work removed roughly six vertical feet of water at some locations and restored temporary access routes that had been underwater. Bartlett cautioned that a permanent engineered solution that would move the large volumes of water residents fearfor example installing new force mains to bypass constrained outfallswould be costly and require coordination with multiple agencies, including FDOT and the water management district.

Officials described the Royal Oaks permit as a stormwater outfall and control structure that included a weir; county staff said the weir had been removed at some point, the water management district found the parcel out of compliance, and the owner subsequently reinstalled the weir. Jay Williams, Volusias county traffic engineer, noted that some stormwater grates in the area collect runoff from nearby commercial parcels and roadways; staff said much of the broader basinincluding private and public rights-of-waydrains naturally toward Miller Lake.

Residents asked for clearer, regular updates. Recktenwald said the county will continue talks with St. Johns River Water Management District, FDOT, the city of DeBary and other local agencies to evaluate options including temporary emergency pumping, raising roadway grades in some locations, and, where feasible, buyouts of chronically flooded parcels. He said engineering and permitting work is under way and that staff will provide continuing briefings to council.

The council did not take a formal vote on a specific Miller Lake remedy at the March 18 meeting; several council members urged staff to continue coordination and to post updated photos and project notes publicly so residents can follow progress.

Ending: Residents said they will return to council meetings if action and communication do not accelerate; county staff said they will keep the council and public updated as studies and interagency discussions proceed.