City of Palatka, Sewer Manhole Sensors, Warning System grant application

City of Palatka, Sewer Manhole Sensors, Warning System grant application

2/25/2025

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 Palatka.

Project Title:

HMGP-4680-(112) City of Palatka, Sewer Manhole Sensors, Warning System

Location of Proposed Work:

Manholes and lift stations located in the City of Palatka, Florida 32177

Proposed Work and Purpose:

The city proposes to install 38 smart sensors in lift stations and manholes to monitor the areas most at risk of being overwhelmed and failing. The current inflow and infiltration rate is causing increased flow at the wastewater treatment plant, flooding during storm events, and higher discharge to the St. Johns River (an impaired water body). The high inflow and infiltration rate is a direct contributing factor to system failure during severe weather events. The project will enable the city to monitor the sanitary sewer collection system in real-time so that it can act proactively to decrease the amount of inflow and infiltration, which will shorten the period of vulnerability within the system. The reduction of overflow into the wastewater treatment plant, through remediation of the system, will protect the wastewater treatment plant and reduce the amount of discharge into the St. Johns River.

Project Alternatives:

The alternatives to the project that have been and will be considered are 1) the no action alternative and 2) upgrading the sewer infrastructure through full replacement or major relocation. These alternatives to the proposed project are not viable because under Alternative 1) the sanitary sewer system will continue to fail and repetitive sanitary sewer overflows would not be addressed, leading to continued environmental and public health risks; and Alternative 2) large-scale infrastructure replacement or relocation would be extremely costly, disruptive to residents and businesses, and would not retain the existing community layout, making it impractical.

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 15 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: