Two Overbrook residents described flood damage to a home and a business at Tuesday’s Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners meeting and asked for help with problems they tied to Gap Creek in Fort Walton Beach.

• Chairman Trey Goodwin responded by outlining the county’s stormwater work in the area and pledging better communication about where those projects stand.

Goodwin, who represents District 4, said the county will post an update on its website listing current projects in the watershed, where each stands, whether it is held up in permitting or funding, and whether the county is allocating local money or seeking state or federal funds.

“I promise you, we have not been ignoring this problem,” Goodwin said. “But we’re going to improve our communication to the community about it because when we’re working on engineering or permitting, you don’t see that in your neighborhood.”

Residents describe damage, ask for help

Steven Lancaster, a 20-year Overbrook resident and owner of Hot Spot Cigars on Beal Parkway, told commissioners during public comment that the recent storm washed out a $40,000 seawall at his property and left a sinkhole no less than 40 feet from Beal Parkway.

He said neither flood insurance nor property insurance covers seawalls, and that he was told nothing could be done because it is private property.

Lancaster said “our community’s being physically destroyed while this board here hides behind the bureaucratic blame game.” He asked the county to update the Overbrook retention pond, which he said is completely clogged, and to clear the area where Gap Creek meets Cinco Bayou. He said that area has filled with sand and silt since bridge work by the DOT in 2019 and again after a sinkhole blowout at the bridge, keeping water from flowing out of the creek.

• “Whether it’s feds, whether it’s state, whether it’s county, I don’t know, but I’m the little guy and I got hurt here,” Lancaster said.

Al Alvarado, who also spoke about Overbrook, said he has met with Goodwin about the issue in the past, going back to 2017, and that Hurricane Isaias again pointed out the neighborhood’s problems. He said that while there are issues involving federal property next to the community, there are problems within the county that can be addressed without outside permissions or waivers.

Alvarado said an existing drainage pond of about two acres across the street from his home, which a map from earlier planning shows is supposed to be fed by drain lines, has never held water, even as water rushes down Overbrook Drive deep enough to kayak on at its peak. He said a neighbor documented that a concrete spillway in an interception ditch is in two disconnected sections, and that a sinkhole over the underground drain on the south side of Overbrook Drive has been there since he moved in in 2010 and has never been fixed.

Alvarado said he has another insurance claim and is replacing his floor.

“Fool me once, but come on, this is more than fool me twice,” he said. “I’m looking for help for our community.”

Goodwin: ‘It’s frustrating to me’

Speaking after public comment, Goodwin said Gap Creek affects a large part of District 4, not only Overbrook, and that residents in Pinedale, Northgate or Sylvania Heights may not see work happening in Overbrook, though it all affects the same watershed.

“I understand why it can feel like the county is doing nothing,” Goodwin said. “But actually, the county has been working pretty darn relentlessly towards trying to get some projects done.”

Goodwin said he and the county’s public works leadership team were on the Jonquil side of the creek after the hurricane last week.

• “We saw literally multiple houses with their life sitting on the curb for pickup,” Goodwin said. “That’s impactful.”

“Okaloosa County has no magic wand to fix all that,” he said, adding that some of the changes date back to when he was in elementary school or before he was born. “But it doesn’t mean that we can’t try and mitigate some of the impacts.”

Goodwin said the area is heavily urbanized and that Gap Creek takes in water from the Fort Walton Beach Technology Center out to the college, along with water from Hurlburt Field back to its golf course. The creek is silted and has debris in it, he said.

“I wish we could go dredge it,” Goodwin said. “I would pound the table demanding a dredge today if I didn’t think that we would get arrested for doing it without permits.”

He said the creek is controlled not only by the state but also by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Partners, permits and public works

Goodwin said local NAACP leaders have taken on Gap Creek as one of their projects and agreed to work with the county, not on funding but on community outreach. One of their members arranged a Zoom meeting last week with the Army Corps of Engineers in Mobile, he said. County officials spoke with the agency’s projects and grants staff, which Goodwin said is different from its regulatory staff, and received insight on how to try to get through the process.

• Goodwin said his office is coordinating a meeting with the area’s congressman, state representatives and representatives from senators’ offices to discuss getting projects through the federal side of the process with the Army Corps.

He said Public Works Director Scott Bitterman has resources to clean out broken culverts or clogged spillways that are in the county’s jurisdiction and do not require federal permission. Goodwin said he would give Bitterman the list of concerns raised Tuesday and asked Alvarado to share specific locations with him.

Goodwin said the county is about four years into the process on a drainage project that could go on the downslope side of the old Commando Village property, which he said would affect many homeowners and help save a lot of homes.

“It is a glacial process to get through this, and it’s frustrating,” Goodwin said. “It’s frustrating to me because District 4 is my district. I live there. I see it.”

Options for property owners

Responding to Lancaster’s seawall damage, Goodwin said there are limitations on what can be done on private property, and that most assistance options apply to homes rather than businesses. He pointed to buyout and home elevation programs through FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program, and said the county will make information about them easier to find.

Goodwin cited a repetitive-flood home on Echo Circle that was bought out through the program and will remain vacant, and a duplex on West Sunset that was raised about 4 feet. He said water surrounded the duplex during the recent storm but did not get inside.

• “It looked like a castle and a moat, but there wasn’t any water inside of it,” Goodwin said. “Doesn’t work for everybody, probably won’t fix your seawall, but there are options out there.”

Goodwin said he has not heard any commissioner or county staff member suggest the issue should not be a priority.

“My goal is: let’s get that creek cleaned up, let’s stop flooding houses, and let’s get the water quality back where it should be,” he said. “That’s a big lift, but I’m here to fight for it.”

Goodwin told the speakers he knew they were not there to gripe. “You’re here because you have real problems, and I get it,” he said.

Recent county updates

On Wednesday morning, the county posted that the state’s contractor, Webber, recently cleaned debris out of the creek near the Beal Parkway bridge as an immediate step. The county also released a document outlining the issue and the actions it has taken so far.

In an Oct. 15 post, the county said Goodwin and county staff met that morning with community members in the neighborhood surrounding Gap Creek to discuss flooding affecting homes and property, and that representatives from the Okaloosa County Branch of the NAACP were present to offer support. The county said it continues working with the City of Fort Walton Beach, the Army Corps of Engineers and Eglin Air Force Base on solutions.

Projects in the Gap Creek watershed

According to the county’s document, Gap Creek, located in Fort Walton Beach, has a drainage basin of about 2.9 square miles and discharges into Cinco Bayou. The document outlines several projects in the area:

• Overbrook Drainage Improvements: The document states that extensive street and yard flooding continues in the Overbrook subdivision, including during a June 1, 2024, rainstorm that dropped 6 inches of rain in less than eight hours, and that residents had water in their houses during Hurricane Isaias. The project has gone through Air Force environmental review and design revisions. At an April 29 meeting, the Air Force asked the county to remove a retention pond and rerouted access road and design the project along a fire break on Air Force property. A Sept. 29 meeting reviewed a conceptual redesign establishing a road, berm and ditch along the newly cleared fire break north of the subdivision. The county has received $1 million in state appropriations through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, $250,000 for design and $750,000 for construction, and anticipates an additional $2 million in surtax funding to fully fund construction.
• Sylvania Heights/Echo Circle Area Stormwater Park: The county plans to use county-owned property, including a 2.67-acre parcel purchased with surtax funds in March 2024, for a stormwater park to help restore wetlands and create green space. A concept plan was presented to residents at a Feb. 24 public meeting, and 30% design plans are under engineering review. Construction is estimated at $4 million. On Oct. 6, commissioners approved a $2 million legislative funding request with a $2 million surtax match.
• Gap Creek Channel Inventory and Planning Study: The study will assess the watershed between Jonquil Avenue and Beal Parkway and identify potential stormwater improvement projects. It is funded by a $250,000 FDEP grant with a matching amount of county surtax funds. The county recently requested a task order proposal from a design firm. According to the document, construction funding for improvements identified in the study would come from the surtax and has been included on the needs list should voters choose to extend the infrastructure surtax in November. (Related)
• Lloyd Street/Mayflower Avenue Area Stormwater Improvements: Construction plans are at 90% to 100% and under third-party review. Construction will be paid for with a $1.5 million FDEP grant and about $4 million in surtax funds, and the county anticipates advertising for bids early in 2027.
• Coastal Stormwater Retrofit Project: Nine legacy stormwater sites in the Gap Creek and Cinco Bayou watershed, including the Gap Creek culvert and the stormwater channel from Overbrook to Gap Creek, will be evaluated for retrofits to improve water quality or reduce flooding. The project has a $6.46 million budget, including a $1.46 million FDEP grant and $5 million in RESTORE Act funding. The county recently requested a task order proposal from a design firm.

The Okaloosa County Branch of the NAACP released a report in January calling for urgent action on flooding along Gap Creek in the Sylvania Heights and Lovejoy areas. County officials met with NAACP leaders in February.

Residents can view existing stormwater projects in the area on the county’s infrastructure surtax website at myokaloosa.com/bcc/infrastructureprojects.