Port St. Joe officials approve emergency repair after Avenue F sinkhole exposes collapsed 48-inch pipe

Port St. Joe city officials voted to approve an emergency repair to replace a collapsed 48-inch storm pipe on Avenue F and authorized $32,895 to contractor Jason White, according to the meeting record.

The board discussed the immediate need to open the road after a cave-in exposed an aging metal pipe originally installed in 2001. Staff (S2) told the board that multiple repair attempts had failed and that Jason White "was the only responsive" contractor; staff said the cost estimate before a direct-purchase deduction totals $32,895 and asked the board to approve the work under the city's emergency procurement threshold.

The vote followed questions from officials and a public comment highlighting broader drainage concerns. Christy McElroy, who identified herself as from Port St. Joe, said the site sits within a roughly 280-acre drainage basin shown on a 2007 map and cautioned that "if all you're gonna do is replace the existing pipe without further mitigation, that you're still gonna have the same issues" in future extreme rain events.

Staff responded to McElroy's question about design oversight by saying, "There is no engineer for that" for the immediate pipe replacement, adding the priority was to open the road. Board members stressed public safety and the long history of temporary fixes along the corridor; one member said the replacement should last and that any further adjustments can be made after the ongoing H&H and HNA studies and work by the city's core engineering effort.

Chair (S1) read portions of a larger HNA task list that tie channel improvements between Avenue F and the railroad to other city drainage priorities and referenced a $15,000,000 allocation for related engineering work. The board approved the emergency repair motion, and the transcript records the motion passing; the meeting then adjourned. The transcript does not include a detailed roll-call tally or further implementation dates.