Seminole woman fixing stormwater pipe she clogged with concrete

The Seminole County homeowner who clogged a stormwater pipe in her backyard with concrete, causing months of flooding in her Shadowbay neighborhood, took steps to fix the problem last week.

But some of Diane Goglas's neighbors are growing tired of waiting for her to act.

“It has been 86 days since Seminole County first ordered her to repair what she intentionally destroyed and she has yet to get it done,” Shadowbay resident Robin Rodriguez said Thursday . “Should we be patient? In my opinion, we were patient enough.”

Goglas did not respond to calls for comment. Attorney Gregory Wilson of Orlando withdrew as her attorney on Sept. 24.

County officials said they received a construction permit last week to begin repairing the clogged pipe. She filed preliminary plans Tuesday that say she will hire a contractor to replace two manhole covers and 13 feet of pipe — about 24 inches wide — that runs through her yard and was damaged by the concrete.

The county quickly granted approval and waived $500 in permit fees to allow the project to move forward as quickly as possible, officials said. A preliminary meeting with district employees will take place in the coming days and the work is expected to take a few weeks.

All summer, homeowners complained to the county about clogged pipes flooding streets and yards in their middle-class neighborhood of about 100 homes and condos on Wekiva Springs Road near Longwood. They said roads had become almost impassable, especially after severe thunderstorms. Flooding crept across driveways and into garages. Residents even posted “Slowly. “No Wake Zone” signs along the streets.

Workers pour concrete into a manhole in Diane Goglas's backyard to seal a stormwater pipe in the Shadowbay neighborhood of western Seminole County in April 2024. (Screenshot from Seminole County Special Judge Hearing)

Residents now say flooding in their neighborhood has subsided significantly — even after Hurricane Helene swept across the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 26 — because homeowners installed pumps to drain much of the rainwater that covered the streets.

Still, they say they're frustrated that county staff haven't communicated with the homeowners association about Goglas applying for a repair permit or details of the project.

“We as residents have a healthy skepticism that the pipe will be repaired any time soon,” Rodriguez said. “Even if the county accelerates the project, I believe Goglas is still weeks away from being in a serious state of readiness to begin actual pipe rehabilitation.”

Goglas plugged the pipe that ran along a 25-foot easement between her home and an adjacent right-of-way in April because, she said, it was broken and causing small sinkholes to destroy her yard.

A month earlier, she knocked on neighbors' doors and distributed a letter falsely claiming the pipe had been “installed on my property without my permission.” Goglas warned she would seal it. “I advise you not to do this because once I close the pipe you will have a drainage problem that will back up on the street and on your property,” the letter said.

A district judge is scheduled to be briefed on Thursday about their progress in removing the pipe.

Special Judge Sherry Sutphen is likely to withhold the $250-a-day fines she imposed on the homeowner last month if she doesn't remove the concrete or install a new stormwater pipe from Shadowbay Boulevard to a wetland behind her home on the northeast side of Lake Brantley until October 1st.

Diane Goglas sits next to her attorney Greg Wilson during the judge's special hearing at the Seminole County Building in Sanford on Thursday, September 12, 2024. The hearing centered on a stormwater pipe in Goglas's backyard that she filled with concrete, causing flooding in the neighborhood. Behind Goglas stands a man wearing a T-shirt with the inscription Diane Goglas sits next to her attorney Greg Wilson during the judge's special hearing at the Seminole County Building in Sanford on Thursday, September 12, 2024. The hearing centered on a stormwater pipe in Goglas's backyard that she filled with concrete, causing flooding in the neighborhood. Behind Goglas stands a man wearing a T-shirt that says, “LOVE thy neighbor, do not flood thy neighbor.” (Screenshot from Seminole County Special Judge Hearing)

This came after District Court Judge Donna Goerner on September 19, in a separate civil case, ordered Goglas to repair the damaged pipe by September 29. Otherwise, county workers would have permission to go into the private area and make repairs.

Goerner also ordered Goglas to post a $15,000 deposit – the estimated cost of replacing the stormwater pipe.

Residents filed a lawsuit in June asking a judge to order them to remove the concrete or replace it with a new pipe.

The county issued them a code violation in May for “damaging pipes and drainage structures” of a stormwater system. The citation ordered her to remove and repair the existing stormwater pipe and inlets. Because Goglas never repaired the pipe, the violation was referred to Seminole's special judge in August.

But district officials said there was little they could do other than issue a notice of violation. Shadowbay is a private neighborhood that owns and maintains its streets and stormwater infrastructure. They called it a dispute over “private property.”

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