North Port seeks to establish funds to fast-track replacement of aging infrastructure
NORTH PORT – When General Development Corp. drained the Myakkahatchee Creek watershed in the 1950s to create buildable land for the classic footprint of the city of North Port, it did so by building 64 different structures to control and move water through 81 miles of canals and waterways.
Decades later, city officials must decide the best way to fast-track the replacement of those aging structures along with the rehabilitation and replacement of another 48 bridges.
Water control infrastructure:North Port faces financial dilemma with aging water control infrastructure
The city public works department embarked on a replacement plan for water control structures in 2009. That plan uses funds from the road and drainage fees paid by city residents and one one-cent sales tax that allows for the replacement of one structure a year.
At that pace, Interim Public Works Director Chuck Speake said complete replacement would take half a century.