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New Smyrna Beach outlines stormwater master plan and multimillion-dollar drainage projects as residents demand faster relief
Summary
City officials and consultants presented a two‑phase stormwater master plan, multiple dredging and neighborhood drainage projects (including a Transform 386 grant covering about $6,000,000 for Corbin/Cortland Park) and a modeling schedule; residents pressed for quicker, short‑term fixes and raised jurisdictional and development concerns.
New Smyrna Beach officials and their consultants presented progress on a citywide stormwater master plan and several large drainage projects at a public workshop, and residents pressed for faster, short‑term action to protect homes damaged in recent hurricanes.
City Manager Kevin Cowper opened the meeting by stressing staff commitment to the effort and saying the city is "taking this very seriously." Mayor Fred Cleveland described flooding as a regional problem that will require state and federal funding, adding, "This is going to be billions of dollars to get this right." City Engineer Kyle Fegley reviewed a slate of projects the city is pursuing, several of which are at late design stages and expected to begin construction in 2025.
Why it matters: the city and consultants said the master plan will produce a calibrated hydraulic model that identifies which neighborhoods and conveyances are most at risk, ranks concept designs by cost and benefit, and becomes a tool the city can use in permitting and grant applications. The model is intended to inform long‑range resilience to sea‑level rise and stronger storms rather than be a quick fix for every flooded street.
What officials said: consultants from 0.5 and Associates and partner firms described Phase 1 as a data‑collection effort that incorporated hundreds of ERPs and thousands of plan pages, and said Phase 1 would be complete in early April; Phase 2 is a roughly 12‑month modeling and conceptual design period. Consultant Kent Bullocko said the team will simulate design storms (2‑year, 100‑year and 500‑year events), calibrate results against historic events such as Hurricane Ian and then develop conceptual solutions for each problem basin.
Planned and under‑way projects: Fegley listed several workstreams. The Corbin/Cortland Park drainage improvement qualified for Transform 386 funding and "is going to cover over $6,000,000 of this project," he said; North Atlantic Avenue drainage work is fully permitted and moving to bid; a contractor is on site for the Turnbull Creek South dredging (work expected to complete March 2025); Old Menorcan Pond dredging is complete; Gabordy Canal and Pine Island dredging face permitting and environmental reviews; and Cemetery Canal requires bank stabilization rather than dredging.
Residents' concerns and staff responses: attendees repeatedly urged quicker, targeted action. "We need pumps. We need infrastructure in place. Instead of just studies. We need action. Faster than a year," a resident said, reflecting broad anxiety about waiting for a 12‑month modeling phase. Consultants acknowledged urgency and said they will look for incremental measures that can be implemented quickly where the model and existing data support them, but cautioned that reliable, durable solutions require careful calibration and design to avoid unintended consequences.
Jurisdiction and development disputes: multiple speakers raised confusion about maintenance responsibilities among homeowners associations, the city, the county and state agencies and argued that recent development in wetlands has reduced natural storage. Assistant City Manager Ron Nyberg gave a primer on development moratoriums and Florida law, warning that overly broad moratoriums expose the city to litigation and legal fee awards; consultants and the city explained that the model can be used to evaluate proposed developments and to demonstrate when a project would harm downstream areas.
Access, transparency and next steps: consultants said the city will own the completed model and plans and will publish the master plan report and periodic updates; they are not scoped to build a public web tool that reruns the hydraulic model on demand, though modeled results and map layers may be posted. Staff asked residents to submit photos, videos and marked maps via the city's flood page (flooding at cityofnsb.com) to help calibrate the model and locate priority pinch points. Officials said projects already under contract or with permits—such as Turnbull Creek dredging and work tied to Corbin Park—will proceed while the master plan develops.
No formal votes were taken. The meeting closed with staff offering to meet on site with residents, to coordinate with county partners, and to provide updates as phase 2 proceeds.
