River Ridge district hears multi‑year storm surge resilience plan after hypothetical shows broad flooding risk

Eric Long, general manager for PSGRC, urged the River Ridge CDD on Oct. 22 to engage in long‑range storm surge resilience planning and proposed the creation of an advisory/review panel to coordinate across jurisdictions.

Long described a Hurricane Milton hypothetical in which a 10'–12' storm surge could have flooded an estimated 45%–55% of the community, arguing that addressing surge risk could take a decade and require coordination with state, county and village agencies as well as potential partnerships with nearby West Bay.

He asked the CDD to designate a board representative and staff or engineering representatives to assist coordination when needed; the board reached a consensus that Long and newly appointed board member Keith Merrill will assist and authorized District Engineer Charlie Krebs to help as necessary.

Long emphasized that some storm mitigation measures are within property/municipal authority and others will require outside funding and multi‑agency planning. No formal motion was introduced; the item was recorded as a planning and coordination request.