St. Lucie West Services
District

Trails Golf Course Clubhouse and Additional Acreage for Stormwater Ponds

SLWSD Future Use Needs

The District current budget reflects the construction of a permanent Administration and Utility Billing office complex. The District needs additional office space and larger Board Meeting Room for Public events. There are several HOA’s that do not have a large meeting room to hold their annual meetings and have inquired with the District to hold their meetings at the Board Meeting room but the current size has been inadequate for most HOA’s.

The District stormwater system in the Country Club area is in need of additional stormwater retention ponds due to the street flooding we have experienced during heavy rain events. The District has been trying for years to work with the golf course land owner to acquire additional acreage to expand the stormwater retention ponds throughout CCE.

Four potential Trails Golf Course buyers contacted the District during their investigation period to discuss what portion of the golf course and Clubhouse the District would be interested in purchasing and all of them stated they had no interest in keeping the Clubhouse, tennis courts and pool area.

SLWSD Storm Water System Design

Permitting of all South Florida development projects is governed by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) under Part IV of Chapter 373, F.S., and Chapters 40E-4, 40E-40, and 40E-400, F.A.C.

Minimum Road Crown – The minimum road crown must be set at the minimum elevation produced by a 5 year, 1 day rainfall event which is approximately 5.5 inches in St Lucie West, or a minimum of 2 feet above the controlled water surface of the lake system, whichever is higher.

What this means is, once the ground is saturated and runoff occurs, water begins to accumulate in the wetland and lake system within a particular stormwater basin. The lowest centerline elevation of a roadway must be set such that the total accumulation of water in the system does not rise above the center of the roadway. Under these rainfall conditions, a resident could look outside and see water standing in the curb lines. The maximum depth above the curb could be between 2 and 6 inches depending on whether the roadway was a two or four lane facility. The water in the road would extend from the curb line, up the asphalt, to the center of the road at the low points but for the most part, the center of the roadway would be above water.

In general, the roadways in the older neighborhoods such as Country Club Estates and Heatherwood were set using the minimum 5 year, 1 day storm event criteria. Most of the newer neighborhoods used a 10 year, 1 day rainfall event of approximately 6.5” when setting their minimum road elevations. Therefore, the depth of water in the streets in the newer neighborhoods would not be as high as in the older areas given similar rainfall conditions. It should be noted that the overall St Lucie West community is large and the rainfall experienced in one area of the community can and will be significantly different across the various neighborhoods.
Design Storm – The design storm is the theoretical storm used in the designer’s calculations to determine the size of the discharge structures and elevation of the perimeter berm to be placed between each Basin. The SLWSD water management system has numerous drainage basins and the elevations maintained in the lakes vary from 24.50 NGVD along I-95 on the west, to 18.50 NGVD along the Turnpike on the east.
The design storm for St Lucie West is a 25 year, 3 day rainfall event which is approximately 11 inches. When subjected to this amount of rainfall over a three day period, water in the lake rises out of the lake banks and can produce elevations that cover the streets and a large portion of the yards and green space within a neighborhood. Once standing water reaches this level, it is allowed to flow offsite in whatever direction is available. In the case of St Lucie West, the flow  is from Basin to Basin from west to east with water ultimately being discharged to the Turnpike along the eastern boundary of the project.

Finished Floors – Finished floor elevations are required to be set at, or above, the elevation produced by a 100 year, 3 day, zero discharge, rainfall event which is approximately 13 inches in this area. As can be seen from the explanation under the design storm above, once water elevations reach Basin divide berm height, water is free to exit the development, so the elevation produced by the100 year zero discharge calculations may or may not occur depending on conditions surrounding the project site.

The other criterion that is applied when setting the minimum finished floor is a minimum height above the road crown directly in front of the home or building. The minimum height is 18 inches on lots that have the ability to drain to the front and back such as lots that back up on lakes or wetlands, but can be higher on lots where the only way to drain is from the back to the front. If that condition exists, a minimum height of 24 inches above the road crown is generally used. Based on the different criteria, it is not uncommon to have some homes in a neighborhood that are significantly higher than others and therefore more prone to water in the street and yard around their home.

The minimum finished floor elevation applies to habitable floors only and not to garages. If the minimum finished floor for a home located at or near the low point in the street is not set above the minimums, standing water could encroach within the garage and still not flood the home in the strictest interpretation of the code.

COUNTRY CLUB ESTATES	
WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM	
					
CCE BASINS	CONTROL ELEVATION	BASIN SIZE	LAKE AREA	LAKE AREA	
	(FT NGVD)	(AC)	(AC)	(%)	
					
2B	20.0	289.12	23.4	8.1%	
					
2B-1	21.0	19.20	2.4	12.5%	
					
2B-1A	21.5	22.42	1.5	6.7%	
					
2B-2	22.0	98.70	5.6	5.7%	
					
2B-3	23.0	34.80	1.1	3.2%	
					
2B-4	23.0	55.10	5.1	9.3%	
	Total	519.34	39.1	7.5%	
	Additional GC Lake Area		10.5		
	Adjusted Totals		49.6	9.6%	
					
OTHER RESIDENTIAL BASINS		
Basin 5 - Magnolia Lakes	20.4%	
Basin 1B-1D - Heatherwood and Vineyards	18.6%	
Basin 6A-6B - Cascades	12.5%	
Basin 4A/N1 - Lake Charles (Mixed Use)	11.9%	
Basin 2C - South Lake Forest	11.0%	
Basin 3B - Lake Forest Pointe and North Lake Forest	10.3%	

Bent Pine in CCE

St Lucie West Services District Stormwater Management System Improvements		
								
Storage Improvements								

Project	

Year	

Storage Increase	

Status		Construction Cost
Only No Engineering Fees	

Mitigation Costs	
Landscaping Costs	
Basin N1 Berm Removal	2012	0.10 Acres	Complete		$	27,425.00		N/A	
Wetland #1 Project	2015	4.03 Acres	Complete		$	269,816.00		$	9,000.00	
Basin 4E-5 Canal	2016	3.30 Acres	Complete		$	495,749.00	$ 201,036.78	$	7,500.00	
Lake Harvey	2017	6.66 Acres	Complete		$	455,378.10		TBD	
								
Hydraulic Conductivity								
Improvements								

Project	

Year	

Improvement	

Status	
Estimated Costs Construction only	Construction Cost Only No Engineering
Fees	

Mitigation Costs	
Landscaping Costs	
Basin N1 Berm Removal	2012	Improvement flow between Basin 7A
and N1	Complete		
$	27,425.00		
N/A	

Basin N1 Outfall Project	
2013	Increased pipe size to 60" along SW
Heatherwood in Lake Charles outfall to N1 Control at Crosstown	
Complete		

$	199,310.00		

N/A	

Basin 2C - Lake Forest	
2015	Added a second connection from the south end of Lake Forest through Wetland #1 to the Basin 2C control
lake	
Complete		

$	269,816.00		

$	9,000.00	

Basin 2C-3B Control	
2015	Added control gate to allow better equalization between Basins follow
storm events	
Complete		

$	186,000.00		

N/A	

Basin 4E-5 Canal	
2016	Canal will facilitate better equalization between Basins and maximize effectiveness of both
control structures	
Complete		

$	495,749.00	

$ 201,036.78	

$	7,500.00	

Lake Harvey	
2017	Project will establish a second route for stormwater to flow between the lake at the front of Kings Isle and
Basin 4E control	
Complete		

$	455,378.10		

TBD	
Country Club Estates		Create additional storage to assist in
peak storm events		$	900,000.00				
Enclave		Create additional storage to assist in
peak storm events		$	400,000.00				

6B Relocation Project		Relocate stormwater gate east on the C-108 Canal to assist in hydraulic
issues on the C-108 Canal		
$	600,000.00	

$	455,378.10		

TBD	
		Total Construction Costs Plus Mitigation:	$	1,900,000.00	$	2,290,092.98	$ 201,036.78	$ 16,500.00	
								
Hydraulic connectivity projects allow better equalization of flow between basins leading to less			
hydraulic loss and therefore lower storm stages						
								
All of these projects were identified following Tropical Storm Isaac that occurred in the				
fall of 2012								

Trails Golf Course Areas of Play Layout

Proposed Retention Ponds

Clubhouse Acreage

Funding Sources

General Fund FY2018
Capital Outlay Building: $340,747

Utility Fund FY2018
Capital Outlay Building: $632,816

Total Current Capital Outlay Funds Allocated toward the New Administration Office:
$973,563

General Fund FY2018
Unrestricted Fund Balance: $2,677,299

Utility Fund FY2018
Unrestricted Fund Balance : $4,872,121

Market Study

Boyle & Drake , Inc.

1r. Dennis Pickle
Saint Lucie West Se1vice District August 9 2017
Page ii neighborhood.
The sales data was culled to discard sh011 sales and foreclosures that appe ared to be outliers. The avernge overall sale price and sale price per square foot of the golf course homes were was the n compared to the typical interior, lake and preseive view lots. With a fairly homogenous product mix in each individual neighbmhood, any difference in the average sale price overall and per square foot was mostly attributable to the view premium associated with the lot. The analysis resulted in the following conclusions:

On average, lakefront lots realized the highest view premium. The premium ranged from 1.30% to 11.46% with an average of 6.23% when compared to a golf view lot. The premium for lake view lot when compared to an interior or prese1ve lot view ranged from 6.14% to 26.10% with an average of 15.73%.

Golf course view premiums compared to a typical interior or prese1ve/buffer lot view ranged from 0.20% to 24.49% with an average of 9.18% depending on the neighborhood.

A table summarizing the average sale price per square foot from each neighborhood analyzed is shown following. The complete ana lysis is contained in the following report.

CO NTRY CLUB ESTATES - SUMMARY

Avg. SP	
Presidential Cove	Neigborhood
Counhy Club Estates	Counhy Club Pointe	
Fairway Isles	
Golf	$97.22	$121.31	$123.55	$117.73	
Lake		Sl35.20	$130.88	$119.26	
Preserve	$88.73	$118.37	$123.31	$94.57	
Interior		$11 7.63			

An Executive Summmy has been included for your convenience. It has been a pleasure to se1veyou in this matter.