JOINT FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL

PUBLIC NOTICE 

August 16, 2023 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Florida Division of Emergency Management have received the following application for Federal grant funding.  Final notice is hereby given of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) consideration to provide funding in the form of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Funds will be provided in accordance with Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 93-288, as amended.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal actions must be reviewed and evaluated for feasible alternatives and for social, economic, historic, environmental, legal, and safety considerations. Under Executive Order (EO) 11988 and EO 11990 FEMA is required to consider alternatives to and to provide public notice of any proposed actions in or affecting floodplains or wetlands. EO 12898 also requires FEMA to provide the opportunity for public participation in the planning process and to consider potential impacts to minority or low-income populations. 

Funding for the proposed project will be conditional upon compliance with all applicable federal, tribal, state and local laws, regulations, floodplain standards, permit requirements and conditions.

Applicant:

City of St. Augustine

Project Title:

HMGP-4337-382-R Avenida Menendez Flood Barrier

Location of Proposed Work:

The area affected by this project consists of the existing Municipal Marina and associated seawall in the following locations:

111 Avenida Menendez, City Municipal Marina, St. Augustine, FL 32084; south of Bridge of Lions and east of the intersection with Marine Street in St. Augustine, FL 32084.

Proposed Work and Purpose:

The City of St. Augustine is proposing improvements to the existing seawall located along Avenida Menendez, south of Bridge of Lions and east of the intersection with Marine Street in St. Augustine, FL 32084.

The project proposes to elevate and reinforce a portion of the eastern seawall on the Matanzas River with the installation of approximately 180 linear feet of new concrete seawall in front of the existing riverfront seawall. The existing seawall cap elevation is approximately 5.0 feet (NAVD88), this cap shall be demolished for construction activities. The new seawall cap shall tie the existing wall to the proposed construction and shall be constructed to an elevation of 7.1 feet (NAVD88) top of wall. The proposed sheet pile elevations are from +6.1 feet to -22.0 feet with the wall cap reinforcing the top and seaward portions. Additionally, two existing 12-inch diameter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) stormwater outfall pipes shall be retrofitted with 12-inch Ultraflex Checkmate check valves, or an appropriate product determined by the engineer to adequately protect the infrastructure. Riprap protection is proposed in areas of the seawall hardening and is identified along both the wall improvement length and outfall protection locations. Appropriate transition back to the existing grades are included as well as safety railing to return the area to existing conditions. This project shall provide a higher level of protection from direct storm surge flooding during storm events. This area of the seawall is identified as a low point and the area has experienced past flood damage.

The project shall be constructed to provide protection against a 100-year storm event. Activities shall be completed in strict compliance with Federal, State and Local applicable Rules and Regulations.
 

Project Alternatives:

The alternatives to the project that have been considered are:

1) The no action alternative and 

2) Install a new concrete masonry unit (CMU) wall behind (landward) of the existing seawall.  The existing seawall is currently at +5.0 feet NAVD88.  The new CMU wall would be installed to +7.1 feet NAVD88 and would extend approximately 180 LF from the south end of the project to the first dock located at the Marina.   

After consideration of the above alternatives, Alternative 1 would not address the current flooding that is experienced and does not best serve the community.  Alternative 2 would meet the project goal for increased flood protection.  However, due to upland constraints (primarily a close proximity fuel tank and sanitary sewer lift station), this alternative would negatively impact the existing utilities.  As such, this alternative was not selected.    

Comment Period:

Comments are solicited from the public; local, state or federal agencies; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of the proposed project.  The comments should be made in writing and addressed to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Bureau of Mitigation, 2555 Shumard Oak Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100.   These are due within 30 days of this notice.  The State will forward comments to applicable regulatory agencies as needed.   Interested persons may submit comments, obtain more detailed information about the proposed action, or request a copy of the findings by contacting:

Jessica L. Beach, P.E.

Chief Resilience Officer                                                                                     (904) 209-4227

City of St. Augustine                                                                                          jbeach@citystaug.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Kayla Born, State Lead Environmental Specialist                                             (850) 815-4582

Florida Division of Emergency Management                                                     Kayla.Born@em.myflorida.com