CRESTVIEW — The city will soon be able to stabilize a washout threatening a number of homes and infrastructure.
A $1.25 million federal grant to reduce erosion in the Gil-Ava storm water system also will provide $85,500 to repair erosion of two Crestview Housing Authority complexes off U.S. Highway 90.
The city’s 25 percent matching funds — about $312,000; required to receive the recently awarded grant — can come from in-kind services, including surveying, acquiring land rights and engineering. The city also must contribute $21,371 for the housing complex's erosion repairs.
So, where will the federal money go?
“We’ll make erosion control structures,” said Darryl Williams, with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. “It’s not money toward a road. We don’t spend money on the roadbed. It’s money for problems adjacent to the road.”
The project must be completed within 220 days of funds arriving at the USDA’s state office in Gainesville, Williams said.
DAMAGE OVER THE YEARS
Several years ago, when storm water runoff washed out part of Phillips Drive — between Gil-Ava Street and Texas Parkway — Crestview's Public Works department and the NRCS lessened the large gully it formed with an extensive drainage system.
Heavy rain at the end of April 2014 overflowed the system, creating a gully that bypassed the NRCS’s erosion control structure, bringing the washout within feet of Gil-Ava Street and a Phillips Drive home’s side yard.
“It’s washing away private property as well as city property,” Public Works Director Wayne Steele said.
In addition to nearby structures, including an adjacent water tower's footings, the erosion threatens the environment, Williams said. The runoff washed immeasurable tons of silt and sand into what was once a small stream in a downstream wetland.
NINE-MONTH WAIT
Steele said his office applied for the USDA grant in May 2014. “It’s taken this long for the federal side to allocate funds to his (Williams’) program,” Steele said.
But the award was significant.
“His is one of the biggest pots of money he remembers getting at one time for damage to one entity," Steele said.
Despite the wait, city officials said they are pleased to receive federal relief to address the concern.
“We’re just excited about being able to finally fix the Gil-Ava problem,” Mayor David Cadle said. “That whole hillside just washed away. We need to stabilize it, but the city couldn’t afford to do it by ourselves.”
“We appreciate the efforts of Mr. Steele to secure the funds to fix this problem,” City Councilman Tom Gordon said. “He’s been a tremendous asset to the City Council and the city of Crestview.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Fed $1.3 million grant will address April '14 Gil-Ava erosion (VIDEO)