Safety Harbor pulls narrow dredging plan, moves toward comprehensive Mullet and Bishop creeks strategy

The Safety Harbor City Commission on Feb. 3 withdrew a narrowly focused dredging item for Mullet Creek and Bishop Creek and agreed to pursue a comprehensive stormwater plan, civic leaders said. Commissioners instructed staff to continue planning, add monthly status reports to commission meetings and prepare formal outreach to state and federal elected officials and the county to help secure funding.

The move comes after residents and longtime neighborhood volunteers pressed the commission for a larger approach. "You can't ask individual owners to come down here and start dredging the creeks," resident Tom Tracy told commissioners, saying homeowners associations lack the funds and expertise to fix extensive drainage failures that have repeatedly flooded streets and yards.

Why it matters: Commissioners and residents said piecemeal fixes would not address the scale of the drainage problems affecting multiple subdivisions. The record references a prior U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that estimated about $8.5 million several years ago to address flooding; residents and commissioners acknowledged costs may be higher now and that the city will need outside partners and funding to proceed.

Discussion and public input focused on three practical issues: scope, funding and near-term steps. Tracy and other residents said dozens or hundreds of properties are affected and that requiring 100% property-owner participation in repairs or easements would be impractical. Resident Gary Rosenberg urged urgency and volunteered to help with planning. Resident Ashley Sanchez requested that, when dredging occurs on Rainbow Farms, city crews consider placing dredged material back on adjacent private property where homeowners are willing to accept it.

Commissioners and staff described next steps as a combination of continued planning, concurrent funding outreach and limited early actions that do not foreclose the comprehensive plan. A staff member told the commission it will add a monthly project update to commission agendas and will draft a letter to re-engage federal and state representatives and the county. Commissioners identified Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a (state) Representative Anderson and State Senator Ed Hooper as recipients for formal outreach, and asked staff to coordinate with the city's lobbyist to explore state and federal funding and grant opportunities.

Funding options discussed included federal/state grants, county participation, possible assessments or bonds if outside funds are not available, and continued engagement of the Army Corps and other agencies. Commissioners repeatedly said they did not want to delay initial, practical actions while pursuing grant funding.

What the commission directed: staff will (1) keep working on a comprehensive plan; (2) add a monthly project report to commission meetings; (3) prepare a draft letter to identified state and federal elected officials and the county for the commission's approval; and (4) coordinate with the city's lobbyist while continuing to pursue grants and other funding sources. No formal vote was recorded to adopt a specific funding plan or to commence immediate construction work.

The commission did not establish a final cost, timeline or specific construction start dates; the Army Corps figure cited by residents dates from earlier work and was described in the meeting as an estimate, not a current contract. Staff and commissioners emphasized that any construction or expenditure would depend on completed engineering, identified priorities and confirmed funding sources.

The commission also noted code-compliance and private-property issues would be part of the comprehensive planning process. Commissioners asked staff to re-engage partners and to present progress reports to the public at future meetings.