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MOVING STORMWATER PIPES UNDERGROUND
Stormwater project to reduce flooding without industrial eyesore
25 October 2024
Jon and Rebecca Zoler didn’t want ugly stormwater pipes, pumps and generators to destroy their beautiful beach and Gulf views. They worked with the city of Naples for two years to change the industrial look of a proposed pump station. In August 2022, Council had voted 4-3 to approve Erickson Consulting Engineer’s plans, despite Jon Zoler branding them an “enormous monstrosity” that would ruin the charm of Old Naples. The Zolers, who purchased their $6.9 million Third Avenue North home for $1.4 million in 2004, were shocked at the plans, so they developed images to show city officials what the finished project would really look like. “They didn’t know what they were buying,” Jon Zoler explained, calling the original 18foot pump and 40-foot concrete platform design “ugly beyond belief.” The Zolers and some of the 18 other residents who hired local attorney Matthew Mc- Connell after the initial approval were successful in preserving views at beach ends, moving pumps to more discreet locations and hiding pipes underground. They joined city officials on Oct. 15 for the ceremonial groundbreaking on an $86.2 million stormwater project to improve the quality of filtered water discharged into the Gulf of Mexico, and reduce significant flooding to homes along Gulf Shore Boulevard. The ceremony was held under a tent on the Third Avenue North beach, where the north wwwqwpump station will be constructed, while a southern pump station will be located at the Eighth Avenue North beach end. Work will extend from Oleander Drive south to Second Avenue South, and completion is expected in late 2026. Long time on the drawing board It took more than a decade to get the project to that ceremony. Mayor Teresa Heitmann thanked the Zolers and others for fighting for the best plans. “The Zolers were very persistent. I appreciate that,” Heitmann told the crowd of about 50 people. “They went through drawings and really worked with us. That’s really what it’s about, coming together over a project. Even though no one really wanted it at that location, it was necessary. It’s going to be a better project because of the two of you and those who worked with you.” Heitmann said she’s glad McConnell is on the city’s side now — he was hired this year as the city attorney. The first phase began two years ago, with design, which cost $11 million, and preconstruction. Citywide, 12- to 54-inch backflow preventers were installed inside outfall pipes — the pipes that empty runoff into the Gulf of Mexico — to prevent rain from backing up into the stormwater-collection system and flooding streets. This second phase will remove eight industrial- size stormwater outfall pipes from the city’s beaches and add 6,000 feet of new 24- to 54-inch pipes underground. Considered a landmark project, it is planned to lessen flooding, improve water quality, reduce beach erosion and protect critical habitats, such as sea turtle- nesting areas, through a state-of-the-art treatment system. Stormwater will be ...