CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Housing Authority anticipates flood damage from an April 2014 storm and construction of mitigation structures will be finished almost two weeks ahead of its 30-day schedule.
Crews from J. Miller Construction in Pensacola started work Aug. 26 on a massive washout between sections of Harry Booth Terrace, low-income housing on Laurel Oak Terrace and North Spring Street, respectively.
During the storm, water cascaded down a creek that runs through the development as well as from Anything Pawn's parking lot, eroding embankments and almost completely silting over the retention pond between the two housing sections.
Pond-side erosion threatened at least one of the development’s units, and possibly a second, Executive Director Judy Adams said.
“That was one of my main concerns,” Adams said. “If it had not been repaired, we would have had to displace families. And we might possibly have had to (demolish) some of the units and lose available low-income housing.”
The $85,500 mitigation project, which includes securing the creek’s channel and strengthening embankments, is funded by the federal Watershed Protection Program through the local U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
A key partner is the city of Crestview, Adams said, which provided in-kind matching funds through restoration of the retention pond, which completely silted over in the deluge, resulting in what is mostly now a green meadow.
Formerly 4-foot-tall fencing surrounding the pond is now less than 2-feet tall in some sections due to the volume of dirt that swept into the water.
Public Works crews will remove the sediment from the creek through the pond, which is more than 4-feet-thick in some spots, as the city’s contribution to the project.
“The city agreed to step in,” Adams said. “We appreciate what they’re doing. We as a sponsor cannot match our federal dollars to another federal grant, so it was a huge resource for the city to do this for us.”
The Crestview Housing Authority is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and operates under a cooperative agreement with the city. The City Council appoints members of the authority’s board.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Housing Authority storm damage repair ahead of schedule (PHOTOS, VIDEO)