Drainage issues have gotten to where they are major talking points at every Ponte Vedra Municipal Service District meeting, and it has been the case for some time now.
The latest instance brought to the board’s attention was from Denis Abromavage, who brought up concern about a pit that has developed due to the collapse of an old drainage pipe and his backyard at 530 Morningside Drive is washing away as a result.
“His rear yard has an old drainpipe that has totally corroded and is compromised,” MSD trustee Mickey White said. “Dirt is falling from his yard into this old pipe and it’s just a mess.”
Both Abromavage and White have spoken with St. Johns County representatives with no luck or solution to resolve the situation.
“The county has said that it’s not their pipe and it’s not their easement, so they don’t maintain it,” White said.
White stated that Abromavage has an issue in his front yard as well where the county moved some drainage around and they are working to fix that, but the backyard remains a growing problem.
According to White, he is not the only resident within the MSD that is dealing with issues due to unmaintained drainage infrastructure, but there is no one willing to claim responsibility for the situation.
“This is the exact situation that has led to us saying that we want to file a list of all the drainage easements throughout the area that need an owner and an entity to maintain them,” White said. “It leaves homeowners without a place to go to get it corrected.”
Abromavage stated that the swale at the back of his property was being maintained years ago but then the maintenance just stopped one day.
It is not just his yard that is being affected, as similar results are happening to his neighbors’ homes, including part of the yard that washed away having a fence on it, which is being washed away.
According to Abromavage, he has met with engineers and has a list of emails but after looking at it they said that that pipe was not even showing up on their maps.
“But that’s not the way it is, because you can see it going right through my yard,” Abromavage said.
One of the consensus agreements is the safety that the collapsed pipe and pit formed causes to the residents around it.
“That pit is a hazard because it’s four feet deep,” Abromavage said.
He even stated that he has seen children playing around the pit and it could quickly become a real issue if someone was to fall into it.
County Commissioner Krista Joseph attended the meeting and said that she would investigate the situation further.
In other news from the meeting, budget discussion will begin to pick up as the MSD prepares for the approaching end of the current fiscal year in the coming months.
The budget process will include a tentative millage being decided in July and a tentative budget introduced in August followed by the first budget meeting in September.
