OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – People who live in one Osceola County community said their worst fears came true after water gushed from the construction site next door.
“The water just came down through here at breakneck pace,” said Mike Fischetti. His property, which is just feet away from the development being built, flooded earlier this month.
Now, Fischetti, and others who live in Lake Ajay Village in St. Cloud are concerned about the next storm. They said the development is six feet higher than the existing properties.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
“A big rain like we had two years ago, we’re in trouble,” said Fischetti.
News 6 found out Pulte is building two communities: One with townhomes, and the other with single-family homes. A completely different sight from what used to be on the plot of land.
“For the last couple of years, we had cows. They would come over and we would feed them,” said Brian De Leon.
De Leon has lived in Lake Ajay Village for nearly 20 years. His backyard abuts the construction and since the work started, he said, there has been flooding and he worries more could be coming.
“We’re staring at a wall of dirt and no one is giving us answers on what is going to happen when we actually hit the rainy season,” De Leon told News 6.
News 6 reached out to PulteGroup to figure out what it is doing to make sure flooding does not happen again. We received this statement in an email:
At PulteGroup, we prioritize safety and well-being. We sympathize with the community regarding the temporary failure of a de-watering berm at our development site due to an intense rainstorm. Our team acted promptly, working to mitigate the impact and repairing the berm. We have implemented actions to enhance our stormwater management systems to prevent future incidents. When the site is finished with development, we will have a fully functioning stormwater system that will capture on-site water and is designed to drain away from the Lake Ajay Community. We appreciate the community’s understanding and remain committed to improving our infrastructure with care and attention.
Tim Chatlos, Director of Corporate Communications
De Leon said the flooding is not his only concern.
“When you have any sort of building project that’s your neighbor, it abuts to you, you’re supposed to get some sort of notification. You’re supposed to review the plans, you’re supposed to be able to provide some input. We got no notifications.”
Here is the problem; construction is happening in the City of Orlando but the neighbors impacted live in Osceola County. Residents told News 6 the city was not talking to the county and the county was not talking to the city. Fed up, those residents called their state representative.
“If this was a mile north and they were doing this development all of the neighbors would have been notified,” said State Rep. Tom Keen.
State Representative Keen represents parts of Orange and Osceola Counties. He said he is going to make sure all entities involved are talking to one another. Along with the City of Orlando and Osceola County, those entities include the South Florida Water Management District and PulteGroup.
The City of Orlando gave this statement to News 6:
Our Engineering Inspection staff have been made aware of this issue and are coordinating with Osceola County, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the Developer and their Engineer of Record.
Upon further investigation, it's been determined that the flooding issues are being caused by the current dewatering operation and associated groundwater at the site. These process and permits are overseen by SFWMD.
It’s our understanding that based on this information, the Developer, their contractor and their Engineer of Record are working on a modification to this process and permit and will resubmit it to SFWMD for approval.
The city’s Engineering Inspection staff will continue to closely monitor construction activities of this site, and we will review the updated plans.
Ashley Papagni, PhD, City of Orlando Public Information Officer
News 6 called and emailed the South Florida Water Management District, but has not yet heard back.
Osceola County provided this:
Ultimately, the County has no control over development in Orange County. Osceola County staff has tried to be a voice for the community and to get the right folks to the table to have a discussion about resident concerns.
Mark Pino, Public Relations Manager
You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below:
