City ratifies emergency repairs after failing stormwater pipe under Santa Ana Drive

The Dunedin City Commission ratified an emergency public‑works repair this week after city crews found a failed, decades‑old stormwater pipe running under private property at 1457 Santa Ana Drive.

Public Works Director Sue Bartlett and Utilities and Engineering Manager Clayton (Clay) Watkins explained engineers discovered the pipe, laid in the 1930s, had multiple failures and voids — and that Frontier had damaged two sections during right‑of‑way work. Because the pipe ran beneath a home and through a private easement, the city authorized immediate grout/flowable‑fill work and pipe abandonment to stabilize the ground and prevent structural damage.

Bartlett said crews used flowable fill (about 28 cubic yards reported at the meeting) to backfill the voids and temporarily converted the flow with a pump while engineering prepares a permanent reroute. Watkins said a temporary bypass pump is in place and the city has a backup pump available if needed. He described the long‑term plan: an in‑house design to reroute the flow from the Santa Ana structure into a manhole at the northeast corner of Saint Christopher and Santa Ana, tying into a 24‑inch manhole and thence to a 60‑inch line on Saint Christopher that carries water to the bay.

Watkins and Sue Bartlett told commissioners the emergency work cost $53,530.03 — below the estimate of $60,000 — and that construction and fill were completed to stabilize the homeowner’s yard and structure. Bartlett said the contractor grouted and removed the damaged pipe and that a permanent replacement pipe will be sized to carry the historic flow and be placed in public right‑of‑way rather than under private houses.

Local neighbors spoke during public input, reporting prior flooding along San Juan and Santa Ana and asking whether removing the pipe to the pond would route more water toward their homes. Diana Hartman and Jane Moden described the area as a flat street where water ponds, and another neighbor asked whether the city could guarantee homes would not flood in heavy rain or hurricane conditions. City staff repeated that the existing inlet structures (three storm inlets in the area) will remain and that the temporary pump will manage flows until the permanent reroute is complete.

Commissioners voted unanimously to ratify the emergency purchase order and to have staff meet with affected neighbors to show survey and design plans and confirm monitoring of the temporary pump during storms.