BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A Keystone Heights City Council member warned his colleagues that the city is unprepared for the consequences of rising water levels on area lakes, adding that without action, Lake Region residents risk property damage, injury, and even death.
Dan Lewandowski listed several potential problems resulting from the Black Creek Water Resource Development Project. The 17-mile pipeline is designed to replenish the Floridan Aquifer and raise lake levels on Lakes Geneva and Brooklyn,
The first problem, Lewandowski said, was that at this point, the St. Johns River Water Management District’s permit allows water from the Black Creek project to flow into Lake Brooklyn only.
“And so, until they get that permit changed,” the council member said, “water will be turned off as soon as Lake Brooklyn gets to 114 feet.”
Lewandowski added that he believes the district will get the permit amended, which will allow water to exit Lake Brooklyn and into Lakes Keystone and Geneva.
“But that has got to be done,” he said. “Otherwise, the rest of the lakes won’t see a drop of water.”
The council member said a second problem is cleaning Alligator Creek to improve water flow from the Black Creek project’s terminus on Camp Blanding into Lake Brooklyn.
He warned that without free-flowing water in Alligator Creek, upstream property owners might experience flooding as the Black Creek project pumps up to 10 million gallons of water into the creek daily.
Lewandowski then brought up the Geneva Project, a Save Our Lakes initiative to remove trees and underlying brush from Lake Geneva’s dry lakebed before water rises to cover up the vegetation.
The council member said execution of the Geneva Project is essential for the safety of people using the lake for recreation.
“If we start boating on Lake Geneva,” he said, “the trees will eventually die and topple over, and there’ll be stumps there. And we could literally have people dying in Lake Geneva because they’re out there water skiing, and they accidentally land on a tree stump.”
The council member added that the city should aggressively support SOLO’s Geneva Project.
Lastly, Lewandowski said the city should anticipate and prepare for a dramatic increase in public boat ramp use and out-of-town visitors to the Lake Region.
“I used to go fishing on Lake Santa Fe, and there was always a problem with parking,” he said. “There were boat trailers and vehicles pulling the boat trailers, and everybody was jockeying for position and where they were going to park.”
“If Lake Geneva and Lake Brooklyn come back,” he continued, “and we think they’re going to come back, we’re going to have everybody from Jacksonville to Gainesville coming out here with their boats, and it’s going to be a good thing and a bad thing at the same time, and we need to be ready for it.”
Council Member Steve Hart said he had already noted increased activity at the King Street Boat Ramp.
Lewandowski said that Save Our Lakes is the only organization looking at the big picture and the consequences of rising water levels. He added that the magnitude of the changes that rising water levels will bring warrants attention from the city, county, and state.
In other news from the April 1 meeting of the Keystone Heights City Council,
Road closures
The council approved two road closures associated with the July 4 holiday. One was for the Jordan Cooper Memorial Scholarship Fund 5K Run. The second was for the Our Country Day Parade later that same day.
Water conservation
Doug Conkey of the St. Johns River Water Management District told the council that April is Water Conservation Month throughout Florida. Mayor Nina Rodenroth read a proclamation declaring April as Water Conservation Month in the city.
“Whereas outdoor irrigation comprises a large portion of water use,” she said, reading from the proclamation, “the City of Keystone Heights will encourage citizens and businesses to focus on improving outdoor irrigation efficiency.”
Conkey said this is the 26th year of Water Conservation Month and added that the typical Florida household consumes over 50% of its water for outside uses, mostly irrigation.
“There’s no one best choice,” Conkey said of preserving and increasing the water supply, “but of all the options that we are facing, conservation is the cheapest.”
Guitars for Kids
Paul Wayne of the group Duval County Line said his group will be playing in Keystone Heights during Our Country Day. The musician added that he will bring performers from his Guitars for Kids program, which donates musical instruments to children.
“At this point, there are somewhere between 250 and 300 of them,” he said of his program’s recipients, “and what it does is it basically improves their home life and their focus. It gets the phones and the game controllers out of their hands for a while and lets them be creative and do something with their own minds rather than following someone else’s lead.”
Airport feasibility study
Airport Engineer Bill Prang presented to the council what he called the final draft report on a feasibility study to bring water and sewer to the airport.
He said the report is 95% complete and contains plans to bring Clay County Utility Authority water and sewer lines to the airport.
The engineer said that the anticipated demand for potable water and sewer is low and that even if CCUA service was provided to the airport, the facility would still need to maintain its own independent firewater service. Prang said the demand for firefighting water to the airport far outstrips what CCUA could provide.
The engineer added that the cost to bring water and sewer service to the airport would be between $22 million and $23 million.
When asked how the city might obtain funding for the project, Prang responded that CCUA might be willing to fund part of the project and that Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection has a program for small community wastewater facilities.
The engineer added that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has money to replace septic systems and that the state’s water management districts have cost-sharing programs.
“We were not tasked with developing a costing or a financial capital plan for the project,” Prang said, “but I’ve been in a number of meetings. This question comes up all the time.”
Prang added that the first step in obtaining grants or any type of funding is to show a need, and the feasibility study shows this need.
Lewandowski said one funding problem could occur because the airport lies in two counties and two water management districts.
Appointments
The council appointed Terri Hall to Seat 1 on the airport board, reappointed Robert Ludwig to Seat 3 on the airport board, and reappointed Kerry Collins to the Heritage Commission.
Fishing Pier
Council members approved a $25,000 contribution to Save Our Lakes to construct a fishing pier at Keystone Beach Park.
City Manager Charlie Van Zant said the pier’s price tag is $200,000, and Save Our Lakes has raised over $100,000 for the project.
The city manager added that the city had budgeted $41,000 for lake expenditures and that the $25,000 would come from that line item.
Scott Slater of Holbrook Manufacturing told the council that the structure’s design includes 150 feet of fixed pier and a 50-foot-long by eight-foot-wide floating structure that would rise and fall with fluctuating water levels.
Steve Hart honored
Council members thanked outgoing council member Steve Hart for his 10 years on the council.
Rodenroth said the Harts were the first to greet her and her husband when they first moved to the Lake Region.
“LaDonna comes knocking on my door,” recalled the mayor of Hart’s wife.
“She’s walking in my driveway. Next thing you know, I’m on the Heritage Commission.”
Hart responded by saying he is gratified by how the Heritage Commission has preserved Keystone Heights history since he and LaDonna launched the commission in 2008. He credited Rodenroth’s leadership on the panel and current Chair Christine Arnold for keeping the commission vibrant.
Rodenroth presented Hart with a plaque thanking him for serving the city on the council from March 2014 through April 2024.
Hart hinted that city leaders might not have seen the last of him.
“I may pop up again somewhere,” he
said.
