Live Oak installs Post-Disaster Redevelopment Plan

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Locals make their way through flood waters in late June after TS Debby flooded downtown Live Oak. This area on Warren Street, near the courthouse, is currently closed due to a sinkhole. The two buildings shown to the right are now condemned. Suwannee Democrat

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October 23, 2012

Live Oak installs Post-Disaster Redevelopment Plan

Bryant Thigpen Suwannee Democrat The Suwannee Democrat Tue Oct 23, 2012, 08:03 AM EDT

Live Oak — The Live Oak City Council met with several agencies on Friday for a special called meeting to develop a post-disaster redevelopment plan for the city that still feels the devastation of Tropical Storm Debby in late June. This plan will allow the city to have a faster and more efficient recovery; seize opportunities to restructure infrastructure for the future; and maintain local control over recovery efforts.

According to Lane Lucas, city engineer, flooding is something that has been repetitive, but could be fixed.  “Live Oak is in a bowl, and we don’t have anywhere for the water to go,” said Lucas. The city currently depends on drainage wells, which is a method that dates back to the 1940s.

During the meeting, photos were presented to the representatives of downtown Live Oak 48 years ago when it flooded the city.  “Forty-eight years ago, US 90 flooded. Forty-eight years later, it’s the same picture,” said Lucas. “It’s been going on and on and on.”

It was a unanimous agreement among those in the room that something needs to be done to prevent this from happening again.

During TS Debby, approximately 315 residences were damaged. Businesses in the city limits were shut down and some remain closed due to the overwhelming loss of their building and merchandise. Some were affected by road closures and were not able to receive goods or be accessible to consumers. The effects of Debby on the local economy has, by far, lasted longer than the storm.

“Shannon Ventry is the CRA director (for the city) and she’s charged with trying to get economic development, getting people downtown,” Lucas said. “They look at downtown and say, ‘Good Lord, that was under seven feet of water. Why would I put my business there?’ She’s fighting an uphill battle, as the whole city is. After seeing where the city’s been and what we’ve been doing, I’d like to talk about where we’re headed, where we want to start going.”

Lucas presented a proposal to create a stakeholders group that would include members from different agencies, many of those who were present at the meeting, that would be responsible for brainstorming and to recommend a solution to each problem.

This group includes city and county officials, local business owners, economic development organizations, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Florida Division of Emergency Management, North Central Regional Planning Council and many others.

The results of the group’s efforts will provide the city with a prioritized list of detailed projects or actions for the city that will help the community to recover from a disaster, along with funding sources, lead agencies, and plans for carrying out the project; ensure that there is coordination on overall projects and opportunities to leverage certain funding sources are explored and utilized; and an organized structure and plan that not only serves the community in the current disaster, but can be used after events in the future as well.

“Live Oak is in the lower Suwannee basin. There are tons of springs in this area, and tons of sinkholes. We’re known around the world for having the highest concentration of first magnitude springs,” said Lucas. “People come from all around to go diving. And that’s the basis of why we’re concerned about what’s going on. Soils, hydrology and topography in town all gel together to create this problem.”

Future meetings will be held to move forward with the plan of restoring this historic town.

Anyone wishing to get involved is encouraged to call Ventry at 386-364-3731 or email sventry@cityofliveoak.org.

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