Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
October 12, 2017 11:59 p.m.
Two long-awaited documents were delivered this week: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Form 90-91 related to Hurricane Matthew and correspondence from the Florida Department of Transportation related to the re-opening of Alachua Street.
The draft version of FEMA 90-91 was completed earlier this year in June. A FEMA Coastal Specialist spent several weeks reviewing the damage sustained to the Marina from Hurricane Matthew. Previously, the City had completed a preliminary damage assessment, followed by a more professional examination by Applied Technology & Management (ATM). The Coastal Specialist consulted with City officials, ATM officials, manufacturers, and contractors to prepare a complete assessment of the damage incurred and the estimated costs to repair. City officials spent several hours accompanying FEMA officials on the docks and hundreds of photographs were taken to document the damage.
The report is detailed, accounting for damage to every dock as well as related structures and facilities. The docks had electrical and water services damaged (which were restored with nearly four hundred hours of City staff labor). Dock 1 (commonly referred to as the breakwater) obviously suffered the most damage. The breakwater is a series of floating, connected concrete modules- over 140 such modules were destroyed. Another forty smaller modules on Docks 2 and 3 (the northern part of the Marina) were reported as damaged and repairable. The estimated cost to replace/repair those modules is almost $1.1 million (not including construction/installation).
The modules are attached to a series of concrete pilings. The modules have a series of rollers, or guides, that enable coordinated vertical movement. The destructive waves associated with Hurricane Matthew battered the breakwater so viciously that nearly every guide was destroyed or rendered inoperable. With the loss of the guides, the modules were able to move horizontally during the hurricane. The combined horizontal and excessive vertical movement significantly damaged the concrete pilings. The pilings, which only measure eighteen along each side, are actually seventy feet long. According to the FEMA report, twenty pilings need to be removed and replaced.
In addition to being attached to the pilings, the modules are held together with thru-rods. The rods function like a hinge-pin, allowing adjoining modules to flex with the movement of the water surface. The waves of Hurricane Matthew either displaced or sheered most of the rods- over two thousand rods need to be replaced.
Additional costs include new water, electrical and fire suppression systems will have to be installed on the new breakwater- panels, pumps, pedestals, and pipes. Other smaller components, such as cleats, also need to be replaced. Finally, all of the damaged equipment must be removed. The FEMA estimate for the replacement of Dock 1 is $4,855,583.
Other Marina projects, such as the replacement of the dockhouse and other smaller dock repairs, and other Marina costs (permitting, design, bidding) raise the total estimate to $6,522,867. The FEMA 90-91 formally indicates that “this project will be funded with the Federal Cost Share at 75% of all eligible costs.” With that now in hand, the restoration of the Marina can begin in earnest.
The correspondence from a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) official indicates that FDOT, the railroad company, and the City have agreed in principle to open the Alachua Street crossing upon the condition of satisfactory review of construction drawings by all three parties. The City had previously provided a set of documents illustrating the improvements to Alachua Street to FDOT, who, in turn, have provided those documents to railroad officials. Railroad officials will develop the plans for the actual crossing of the two sets of tracks and incorporate that design into the previously completed City plans. I will continue my efforts with FDOT to have the railroad company return completed drawings and complete other documents required by FDOT.
The cooperation with the railroad company is the result of lengthy discussions between FDOT officials and the City, making the case for the desired crossing, and between those same FDOT officials and railroad officials. Because of those efforts, none of the other existing crossings will have to be closed, which is typically necessary to secure a new crossing.
I look forward to moving to the next phase of both of these substantial projects.
Please make sure that there are a large number of conduits run under the tracks when the Alachua Street crossing is designed. The Centre Street and Ash Street cross improvement failed to plan for the additional need for services on the Marina side of the city.
Thanks to City Manager Dale Martin and the current city commission for persevering on these two projects. Now, let the exciting waterfront plans move forward……with 75 percent funding from FEMA. That’s a very substantial amount of money toward the waterfront dream.