CRESTVIEW — When storm waters receded after an April 29-30, 2014, storm, residents found washed-out roads and collapsed dams.
While most North Okaloosa County roads have been repaired and are back in use, county Public Works officials are still working on getting Oak Hill Road back in service.
Read about storm repairs, one year later
The north-south connector, between Old Bethel Road and the Lake Silver community, remains impassable where Davis Mill Creek washed away much of the road.
And residents are getting frustrated.
“It’s a problem,” Lake Silver resident Bill Treadway said. “Those neighborhoods are cut off.”
Compounding the problem for residents, visitors and public safety responders, online and GPS direction systems — such as Mapquest and Google Maps — still show Oak Hill Road as passable.
In reality, “If you need an ambulance, they have to go all the way around (State Road) 85 to Lake Silver,” Treadway said.
DESIGN DELAYS
Several factors make Oak Hill Road's repair more complicated than most other storm damage projects, Okaloosa County Public Works Roads Division Manager Brian Moore said.
First, the damaged section over Davis Mill Creek is being completely redesigned.
“Normally, you can get the paperwork through FEMA pretty quickly if you’re going to put it back in like condition, but we are redesigning the road completely so (the road) doesn’t fail again,” Moore said.
“Several things slowed this process down,” Moore said. “One, there was mitigation involved. And two, it was over the threshold of what we can do in-house, so it had to be bid out. And third, we had to redesign it when we couldn’t get the construction easement from a resident.”
EASEMENT ISSUES
Though a construction easement is only temporary, and the property would be restored to the same condition it was in when the project started, a resident did not grant the easement, which would’ve allowed equipment to traverse or be staged on the homeowner’s land, Moore said.
“The set of plans had to go back and be redesigned, and that was a huge part of the holdup,” Moore said.
County engineer Scott Bitterman said now that new engineering plans have been completed and approved, bids will be solicited in the next month or so.
Construction of the estimated half-million-dollar restoration is planned for spring of 2016, he said. Because of the project’s scale, it involved more than most other storm damage repairs.
“It’s a large event, and everybody’s going to be relieved to have construction underway,” Bitterman said.
NO USDA FUNDS
U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist Darryl Williams said the project was ineligible for federal mitigation funding.
“It didn’t qualify for the Emergency Watershed Protection program we administer,” he said.
“In our engineers’ review, they determined it was more of a maintenance issue that caused it to fail than the major rain event we had."
Bitterman said he understands residents’ frustration at the seemingly slow process, but believes people affected by the washout will be pleased with the redesigned crossing over Davis Mill Creek.
“It’ll make everybody happy, not just the public, but (also) emergency responders, the people who haul trash and everybody,” Bitterman said. “It’s a needed connection for everybody.”
Federal, state, county and local officials continue to address repair projects related to an April 29-30, 2014, storm that caused North Okaloosa County washouts.
•Sexton Drive, Baker: Okaloosa County engineer Scott Bitterman said the county is still working on a repair plan for this rural road north of Baker.
•Gil-Ava Gully, Crestview: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist Darryl Williams said now that federal funding has been received, Crestview Public Works is handling restoration of a major washout near the Gil-Ava water tower. City engineer Fred Cook said bids will be opened today or Thursday, with construction starting shortly after Christmas. The project is expected to be completed by April or May 2016.
OTHER STORM DAMAGE PROJECTS
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Redesign, easement issues slow Crestview's Oak Hill Road repair