By Steve Plunkett

Work on the Core district’s road and drainage project was at a near-standstill in July as Gulf Stream’s contractor and consulting engineer waited to receive a “dewatering permit.”

“The contractor is in the process of obtaining a dewatering permit. Schedule for next week is TBD,” www.corearearoadwork.com, the site created to inform residents weekly, reported on July 10.

The South Florida Water Management District issues dewatering permits to make sure, among other things, that water from construction sites does not muck up lakes or the Intracoastal Waterway. Roadway Construction LLC, Gulf Stream’s contractor, has finished some work by pumping extra water into a pond at The Little Club under a different dewatering permit.

But, Town Manager Greg Dunham told town commissioners on July 12, “The Little Club golf course said that they would not like for them to do that anymore.”
Mayor Scott Morgan was outraged.

“We knew there was going to be water. You found it on Day One — Day One you found the water,” Morgan said. “To rely on a country club to dump all this water seems, I’m not going to use the word ‘negligent’ but certainly ill-advised. But we’re in a situation now where you just stopped work, right? I mean, there’s nothing you can do. Is that what you’re telling us?”

Thomas Weeks Jr., Roadway’s senior project manager, said the company had dug test holes on Bermuda Lane, comparatively higher ground, but ran into water too close to the limit. The new piping requires a dry trench at least 4 feet deep.

Other options suggested by commissioners, such as pumping water into a tanker truck and driving it somewhere else, would still need a dewatering permit, Weeks said.

Phase 1 of the project, on and west of Polo Drive, started in late April and was supposed to be completed by mid-February 2025. Phase 2 east of Polo would then begin and end the following December.

But three months into the 20-month schedule, the update website said only 3% of the work was done. Weeks said he expected the water management district to issue the permit in three or four weeks. Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers told commissioners in May a new permit was needed.

Before work began, the schedule was changed to start construction in the north end of the Core district, along Wright Way and Old School Road, instead of on Golfview Drive in the south. The north end is the lowest part of Gulf Stream and more susceptible to the rainy season and king tide flooding.

The website skipped a July 17 update then said July 25: “The contractor is working on drainage installations on Wright Way and Old School Road. Schedule for next week is TBD.”

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