Dear Editor,

I understand that the city engineers feel that the drainage system in SE Port St. Lucie performed as designed. If that is so, then it means that it was designed to flood the residents in the City's Redevelopment Area (CRA). In my humble opinion that makes the city responsible for the flood damage to residents.

What residents may not know it that the city redesigned part of the CRA flood basins to compensate for the development of Open Space Conservation (OSC) property. Some readers may be familiar with the HCA Swap (P00-132 & 133) involving the City of Port St. Lucie & HCA Hospital back in 2000 under the tool age of Mayor Minski. The transaction was designed to swap OSC (drainage) property for land to be developed for RiverWalk. Please note Mr. Ball's contribution from Planning and zoning. He suggested sizing the property to less than 10 acres to bypass state Department of Community Review (DCR). Where did he go to work later? Was it Port St. Lucie West? Didn't they have some sort of water issue?

I digress and need to get back on track to the CRA drainage woes. If I understand correctly, the deal had to be done as a swap because the Comprehensive Plan did not allow OSC property to be sold outright. That fact alone should have been a red flag to the city council. Of course we cannot blame all of them, but there are some who have stood by the swap even after planning & zoning personnel pointed out the alleged misrepresentation of need by the hospital. The hospital claimed that they needed the property for a Parking lot for future hospital expansion, because the hospital was "busting at the seams". Councilman Ron Bowens is quoted as saying that "there are lines of people in the halls of the hospital waiting for rooms and that the loss of open space land is the price the community must pay for growth." Councilwoman Patricia Christensen is quoted as saying, "It's a health and safety issue". The council approved the swap with out a commitment or restrictions over strong opposition by the public. It now appears that the property has new owners and is being sold off as office suites. Good job looking out for us city council members!!! I have to qualify that I refer to the old city council members at the time. They deserve special recognition and a few of them still sit on the council today. If my records are correct they are Patricia Christensen and Jack Kelly. Perhaps they will share with us how they voted in this matter and what their reasoning was because it did not seem matter to enough City Council members that the property in question not only served as drainage, but as a recreation area for T-ball games, golf practice, Frisbees and was uniquely suited for kite flying. Now RiverWalk is a no-go and the OSC property bartered is unrecoverable. Was the public ever provided with the specific reasons why this project has gone toes up? Did it have anything to do with the property received in this swap? Does anyone know that exact amount of money that was spent on RiverWalk and for what?

I am sure that the city will dispute my logic and say that we had 2 hurricanes with no problems.

I need to point out that the Hospital property and EastLakeVillage were not yet developed and we did not have all of that fill in CityCenter. I had recently pointed out the drainage water level at CityCenter to Greg Orvack. He used to be the CRA Manager before he broke his contract and went to work for the developer. It is unclear if he is again working for the city or how his contract was resolved.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. If this editorial upsets you, write to Mayor Christensen at Mayor@city of psl.com and VOTE!