The City Council voted to direct staff to seek an outside consultant to overhaul Titusville’s storm water master plan, a document originally written in 1966 with minor addendums in 1993 and 2007.

Mayor Andrew Connors emphasized the urgency, stating that as Titusville has “grown and changed,” the current plan is outdated and a complete re-look is necessary to prevent future flooding.

The Mayor noted that a comprehensive review was estimated to cost $600,000 a few years ago but was not moved forward by the Council, and it would likely cost $800,000 at this time. Public Works Director Kevin Cook clarified that the previous comprehensive city-wide plan for flooding was quoted at $675,000.

The Council discussion centered on the scope of the new plan. Councilmember JoLynn Nelson argued for an elevated standard, suggesting the city should plan for a 500-year flood event, moving beyond the current 100-year storm standard.

She referenced a two-week rain event in 2007 that caused widespread flooding and road closures, noting that these extreme weather events “seem to be happening more and more frequently”.

Councilmember Sarah Stoeckel and Councilmember Megan Moscoso sought a more holistic review of the city’s water management issues. Stoeckel proposed a staff presentation on three key areas: current development standards and their impact on storm water, the alignment of the new master plan with development, and the current schedule for cleaning and maintaining drainage systems and ditches.

Moscoso added the status of water treatment plants to the request, saying that cleaning ditches—while helpful for moving water—could be detrimental if the treatment plants can’t handle the faster flow. The four areas proposed for a staff overview are development standards, the storm water master plan, the maintenance schedule for drainage infrastructure, and water treatment plant status.

Public Works Director Cook confirmed that staff could prepare a presentation on the current level of service, development items, and other touchpoints. Vice Mayor Herman Cole suggested a “stair step approach,” asking if the report on current conditions could be done in-house.

Mayor Connors pushed for immediate action on the master plan, expressing concern that parts of the current plan “are probably not up to the Florida Statute”. “Hopefully we can give direction to staff to start the process of, you know, hiring a consultant and bringing that back before us,” Mayor Connors said, noting the consultant selection process will take time. In the meantime, the staff presentation requested by other members could be prepared.

Councilmember Nelson ultimately made the motion, which was seconded, to direct staff to return with an advisability report for hiring an outside consultant to redo the storm water master plan.

Watch the part of the meeting where council discusses this issue