SANFORD, Fla. — In a meeting held Wednesday night, community organizers along with developers and elected officials discussed the Midway Water Project — a $26 million project dedicated to mitigating flooding in the Midway area of Seminole County.

What You Need To Know

  • Community organizers along with developers and elected officials discussed the Midway Water Project

  • The multimillion-dollar project would construct new storm drains, wider channels and stormwater ponds along several residences in Midway

  • The project has raised concerns among some residents who worry over easements and losing control of their property rights

  • Developers argued that although they need the easements of some properties to continue with the development, no property rights will be affected

Several residents of Midway said the drainage project is long overdue and much needed.

“I’ve been living in Midway for probably 50 years and with the water situation, with the drainage situation, it has been really deplorable,” longtime Midway resident Bernard Hudley told Spectrum News 13.

The project aims to mitigate flooding in the area that is risen from natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, which struck Central Florida in 2022.

According to online flood tracker Risk Factor, nearly 3,300 properties account for nearly half of all properties in Midway have greater than a 26% chance of being severely affected by flooding over the next 30 years.

The multimillion-dollar project would construct new storm drains, wider channels and stormwater ponds along several residences in Midway.

Longtime residents and community organizers argue it is imperative the project continues as Midway’s current infrastructure makes the area prone to excessive flooding.

“We have a series of farmer canals and ditches,” said Emory Green, executive director of the Midway Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to helping redevelop the Midway community. “When you think about farmer canals and ditches, you think of a bowl. All of the ditches practically retain water once it flows to peak level.”

However, the project has raised concerns among some residents who worry over easements and losing control of their property rights.

Developers at Wednesday’s meeting argued that although they need the easements of some properties to continue with the develoment, no property rights will be affected.

“An easement is not a purchase of the property, it just provides the county the right to build and maintain the improvements,” Seminole County officials stated in a presentation to constituents Wednesday night.

“On a scale from one to 10, it’s a 10 … it’s something that been needed for a very long time in Midway,” Hudley said when describing the impact the drainage project could have on his community.

Should developers obtain the easement of the more than 100 properties needed, construction is slated to begin December 2024.