November 18, 2014 - Workshop
The Town of Glen St. Mary held a Workshop on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 7:13 P.M. at the Town Hall with Council Members Davis, Reneau, and Rhynehardt present. Mayor Padgett presided over the workshop.
Mayor Padgett told Council she wanted to hit on some high spots. She handed out a page titled Culvert Procedures. It pointed out several items that the Town has been working on and several items that needed to be addressed and set procedures.
Mayor Padgett began by reminding Council the Town will be saving $5,000 of our Local Option Gas Tax and the County will get the rest. Because we are not paying the County as much now, Mayor Padgett hates to call them to come over and install culverts for us. Councilman Reneau responded that the County can’t come over and install culverts for the Town. Mayor Padgett told Council they have done so in the past. After a brief discussion of past occurrences when the elevations were not correct or the correct size culvert was not installed, Mayor Padgett reminded Council that the ditch is within the Town’s right-of-way. Council asked Attorney Bense for his thoughts and he did not understand how it would be illegal. Council then discussed procedures and fees for installing culverts, whether the Town should charge for the culvert, dirt, and labor. Council threw around some rough estimates on what each item costs. Councilman Reneau liked the idea of mitered ends and told Council the FDOT miter end diagram is located online. Mayor Padgett stated it may be easier for maintenance to make them ourselves. Councilman Reneau replied that different places would require different sizes. It was discussed if a contractor installed would he be responsible for fixing it if there was a problem later. Councilman Reneau felt like it would be good for new homes to be installed by the Town. Mayor Padgett told Council we are not making money off it, it would require tweaking and we will put all our thoughts down, and then word it up as new procedures. Councilman Reneau warned of the costs of mitered ends.
Mayor Padgett does not believe the Town can go in and require existing homes to fix their problematic culverts. There are some around Town that are crushed, incorrect elevations, or the wrong size. She has asked maintenance if they start, would they start where there is the least work or most work first. Councilman Reneau stated the most work would be in the North West quad of Town. He suggested starting on the worst area and do as much as we can. Council agreed Washington Street is a problem. The ditch is washed out lower than the culvert. Mayor Padgett asked if you add dirt or what? Councilman Rhynehardt stated the County has already been back and put more dirt in because it had washed out. We will need to keep filling in the ditch to try to get it back up to the culvert. Attorney Bense added the Town may have a safety issue with the ditch in question, which could force existing problems to be fixed.
Mayor Padgett then asked Council what their ideas were should a flood or hard rain come for a few days, what is the maximum amount of time they feel water should stay. Councilman Reneau replied that it would depend on what type of dirt was in the ditch. If it was clay, it would stay longer than a ditch with sand. He felt ideally that it should run off within 24 hours. He added the State is approving the black corrugated pipe to be used for culverts now.
The workshop was adjourned at 7:45 P.M.