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OP Council passes lift station contract, flood zone home purchase offers

By Nick Blank nick@opcfla.com
Posted 10/20/21

ORANGE PARK – The Orange Park Town Council approved a contract for lift station improvements and to submit offers for two homes in a flood zone through a federal program at Tuesday night’s …

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OP Council passes lift station contract, flood zone home purchase offers


Posted

ORANGE PARK – The Orange Park Town Council approved a contract for lift station improvements and to submit offers for two homes in a flood zone through a federal program at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Council members unanimously approved a $525,000 contract with Jacksonville-based PBM Contractors for improvements at the Dogwood Lane Pump station. PBM Contractors had the lowest bid of the five bids submitted.

The station is near the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Dogwood Lane. The improvements call for replacing electrical service and pump controls, installing a new sewer line and manhole and altering the fence line and concrete.

When Council Member Susana Thompson asked about the impact to residents in the immediate area, Public Works Director Kyle Croce said town staff would do their best to provide access to residents at all times. He said the timeframe of the project is up to 180 days and residents shouldn’t observe a substantial change during construction, but they would receive notice if that was the case.

“It’s a big project so there’s going to be a lot of construction,” Croce said. “It’s a full rehab of the wet well and the lift station, so there’s going to be a lot of work out there, but as always we’ll try to minimize any disruption.”

The Town Council also approved submitting offers, using Community Development Block Grant voluntary housing buyback program funds, to purchase two Winfred Drive homes for $347,122 and $321,884. 

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered by the state. If the homes are acquired, the town will demolish the homes and the properties will be used as conservation areas due to the properties being in a flood zone.

For the homeowners, the program is voluntary until the property closes, according to town documents.

Town Manager Sarah Campbell said the state Department of Economic Opportunity advised the town and other entities to pay the current appraised home value rather than the value before Hurricane Irma struck. Campbell said an agreement with HUD will be brought before council members at a future meeting.

“[The FDEO] called a special meeting of all the grant recipients in the state to make the announcement that they were applying for a major amendment to HUD to offer the current appraised value instead of the pre-storm value,” Campbell said. “So, that has been identified by FDEO as a change in the program, so that’s how we’ve proceeded is offering the current market value.”

Campbell said the demolition costs are included in the grant. If they exceed $25,000, it will go before council members. Mayor Randy Anderson also asked Campbell if parts of the homes could be donated to local organizations.

“If there’s anything salvageable in the home, we could remove it or ask them to remove anything they would find helpful,” Campbell said. In other business, the town also approved purchasing 702 Sensus water meter smart point transmitters that allow remote reading of water meters. The 297 dual meters and 405 single meters cost $99,742.

“Our technician can sit in a vehicle, drive by an area and pick up readings from the meters instead of physically going to each box,” Croce said. “It’s a big time-saver for us.”