Danny Federico: reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com
Sights were set on the rehabilitation of the Branford Springs during the regular Branford Town Council meeting on Tuesday, June 13.
Toward the end of the meeting, President Ken Saunders introduced discussion on receiving assistance with grant funding through Mittauer and Associates, a group of consulting engineers and project funding specialists. Saunders stated the council had gone through a few grant cycles before with various grant assistance groups, hoping to improve the town's parks and recreation. However, they had been passed up each time. Saunders added that he had recently spoken with David Hodges with Mittauer and Associates, who stated he would need a letter of consent from the council to proceed with a grant application as soon as the opportunity becomes available again.
“I'm really glad this is on your radar, because this is one of my late father's pet projects that he wanted to see get done,” Councilman Jay Hatch said. He then related the story of how the Town of Branford dynamited the spring over 70 years ago. One of the reasonings, he explained, was because swimmers were going into the caves, and the council was afraid someone would get hurt. The spring used to have two bins, but now only has one because it was caved in. Hatch stated the spring's water is “smelly and silty because, when they collapsed that vent, they decreased the force of the spring,” meaning the sediment hasn't been able to be pushed out over the years.
“I had spoken with a young lady named Hailey Hall, who is a Branford High School graduate and who also works with a program called Aquifer Watch,” Hatch said. “She also wanted us to write a grant to restore Branford Springs, and she apparently has a contact who does those specific types of grants.” He went on to state Hall had reached out to her contact, who expressed the grant opportunity she had in mind would be worth looking into. As both he and President Saunders showed interest in rehabilitating Branford Springs, Hatch stated he would like for Hall to visit the council to discuss her ideas before they moved forward.
“You know, this goes with grant writing and engineering,” Saunders replied. “They're the ones that are currently going to do the upper boat ramp paving, and that grant has already been approved.”
“Well, we're looking at specifically restoring that spring,” Hatch elaborated, pulling up the last email he had received from Hall. “She spoke to her boss, Gary Maddox, who is a spring expert and ex-cavern diver. He said that it was hard to get a good look because of all the algae. If they wait until after some of the brown river floods and kills off the algae, they'll be able to get better idea of what's going on. Depending on the size of the debris plugging the hole, some can be removed by scuba divers, or they may need a crane if there are large boulders.” He added that Hall is looking for spring flow data from before the vent collapsed, if it exists, so that she can compare it to the current flow. “So, this may be something that's completely different than what you're talking about. I mean we're going to need the spring cleaned out, but if we don't want it to continue, we may need to restore that vent.”
“I say 'spring restoration,' but that includes the boardwalk around it, sidewalks, handicap railing,” Saunders stated.
At this time, Councilwoman Stacey Griffith spoke up, stating she had met with Mayor Donny Glover, Dale Kinsey and Shannon Roberts down at Ivey Park to go over some of the concerns about the springs. “[Roberts] said one major thing right now is it's not handicap accessible, and that's a huge thing in the State of Florida,” she said. “I think it's definitely something we need to work on.”
“Branford used to be the spring diving capitol of the world, and I'd like to be able to still say that,” Hatch added. He then asked for clarification on whether Saunders was asking to set a meeting date to discuss the matter.
“No, to agree for Mittauer and Associates to pursue an engineering grant to move forward with the whole project, not just cleaning out the spring, and that's probably replacing the dock that was put in there in the 90s,” Saunders responded.
“Well, I feel like we need every penny we can get there,” Hatch agreed. He then made a motion to authorize Mittauer and Associates to look into the grant opportunities. This motion was seconded by Griffith before being unanimously approved.
The next Branford Town Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 11, at 6 p.m. in the Branford Town Hall, located at 502 SW Suwannee Ave., in Branford.