INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — WPTV is digging for answers after residents in one Indian River County neighborhood were shocked to receive a $540,000 bill from the county, for the replacement of culverts under their community’s roads.
Flooding in the Waters Edge neighborhood had grown severe by 2020, and residents say failing culverts were to blame.
WATCH: Bill leaves residents blindsided
“The culverts underneath our entrances at 36th Court SW and 37th SW started failing,” said Allisen Giordano, HOA president.
As the ground began to collapse and water could no longer flow properly, the HOA reached out to the county for help.
“The county denied any responsibility to repair these culverts that were failing,” Giordano said.
Eventually, county officials agreed to replace the culverts—but Giordano says residents were stunned when the county moved forward with billing them for the work.
“Without our acceptance or agreeance, [they] decided to move forward with assessing every homeowner for an overall cost of roughly around $540,000," she said.
According to the county, the issue stemmed from Waters Edge once being a private development. But Giordano says the roads were turned over to the county in 2006, and communication has been lacking ever since.
“The county has failed us, not just Waters Edge, but the whole county in general,” she said during a recent commission meeting.
During that meeting, county leaders agreed the ordinance that allowed the charges needs to be updated.
“This was an antiquated ordinance… going forward, all special assessments — whether it be roads, bridges, neighborhoods, culverts — those will be cleaned up,” said Commissioner Daryl Loar.
Still, the looming question remains: Will Waters Edge still be responsible for the existing $540,000 bill?
“Waters Edge is very important to me, it’s in my district. This gives us an opportunity to revisit that issue,” said Loar.
While hopeful, Giordano says the fight isn’t over.
“It sounded like from the meeting today that we’ll have the opportunity to rewrite some of the wrongs, but this battle is still not over.”
No timeline has been set for reassessing the charges. Commissioner Loar says he believes the county will ultimately do what’s fair.
