Dear ricardo0423-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Without
a doubt the first steps to take are the sources that are obligated to
help you at little or no cost to you ? government agencies:
If I were in your shoes I would first contact the Pinellas County
Building Department whose mission statement says it, ??is committed to
progressive building safety inspections, superior public service,
courteous public contact, judicious exercise of authority and sound
management of public resources, to meet the building needs and
concerns of our citizens today and tomorrow.?
PINELLAS COUNTY BUILDING DEPARTMENT
http://www.pinellascounty.org/default.htm
PINELLAS COUNTY BUILDING DEPARTMENT
310 Court Street
Clearwater FL.
33756
Telephone number: (727) 464-3241
This county government agency should be able to either diagnose your
problem as a matter of public service and public safety, or refer to
you someone who can. While your problem may have nothing whatsoever to
do with flood issues, it should be noted that this same department is
qualified to assess any water issues that may be relative to flood or
water saturation. I spoke to a private contract builder in Florida
just a few minutes ago that recommend this particular agency as an
excellent starting point. He advised me that the county department
could test the water in the saturated area and very closely determine
its likely source, whether it comes from an artesian well, sewer
backup, runoff, or sinkhole.
Alternatively you might involve the Tamp Water Department who may or
may not be able to tell you exactly what the source of the water is,
but they can certainly tell you whether or not the responsibility lies
with them (i.e., broken water main, etc).
CONTACT TAMPA WATER DEPARTMENT
http://www.tampagov.net/appl_customer_service_center/form.asp?strServiceID=75
The same applies with TAMPA CODE ENFORCEMENT. This government agency
might not be able to tell you what the problem is if it is a naturally
occurring problem (i.e., artesian well) but they would certainly be
the point of contact to correct a problem that is being caused by
someone else?s negligence.
TAMPA CODE ENFORCEMENT
http://www.tampagov.net/appl_customer_service_center/form.asp?strServiceID=89
Again, here is a means of reporting flood situations that are caused
by drainage onto privately owned property:
TAMPAGOV FLOOD COMPLAINT
http://www.tampagov.net/appl_customer_service_center/form.asp?strServiceID=130
TAMPAGOV IMPROPER DRAINAGE OR BACKUP PROBLEM
http://www.tampagov.net/appl_customer_service_center/form.asp?strServiceID=141
If you don?t get any satisfactory results from any of these agencies
about your potentially hazardous situation, you can always contact
your city council members and see if they are able to explain why a
tax funded office can?t help a tax paying voter like you.
City Council Member Gwen Miller
http://www.tampagov.net/msg?ID=49
City Council Member John Dingfelder
http://www.tampagov.net/msg?ID=119
City Council Member Kevin White
http://www.tampagov.net/msg?ID=120
City Council Member Linda Saul-Sena
http://www.tampagov.net/msg?ID=51
City Council Member Mary Alvarez
http://www.tampagov.net/msg?ID=44
City Council Member Rose Ferlita
http://www.tampagov.net/msg?ID=47
City Council Member Shawn Harrison
http://www.tampagov.net/msg?ID=48
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SOURCES
Pinellas County Building
General Flood Information
http://www.pinellascounty.org/build/flodinfo.htm
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Clarification of Answer by
tutuzdad-ga
on
09 Mar 2005 17:51 PST
I was able to find a number of helpful agencies that will cost little
or nothing for an initial inspection and potential diagnosis:
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY WATER DEPARTMENT
http://www.hillsborough.org/water/
Paul Vanderploog, Interim Director
Water Department
925 E. Twiggs Street
Tampa, FL 33602
Telephone: (813) 272-6680
Fax: (813) 272-5589
The Water Department staff values its customers and strives to satisfy
them. If you have questions or comments about this report or other
water or wastewater related issues, you may call us at:
Administration (813) 272-5977
Customer Service (813) 272-6680
Emergencies (24 hours) (813) 744-5600
Fax (813) 272-5589
Toilet Rebate Office (813) 288-0259
TDDY Line (for the hearing-impaired) (813) 264-8946
Water Conservation Hotline (813) 224-8993
Water Use Restrictions (813) 275-7094
Water Quality Complaints (24 hours)
Northwest (813) 264-3835
South/Central (813) 744-5544
. . . . . . . . . .
If the water is potentially contaminated, polluted or otherwise
harboring mosquitoes or other hazardous problems, this agency might
help. In addition, this agency might also help you determine the
makeup of your soil and as such possibly determine if your property
falls under the protective category of ?wetlands? (Why does this
matter to you? Some Florida wetlands qualify for special grants $$) .
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMISSION
http://www.epchc.org/
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/
RULES OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMISSION OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
cached document
http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=Hillsborough+County+florida+saturated&ei=UTF-8&fl=0&u=www.epchc.org/PDF%2520Wetlands%2520Forms/Wetland%2520Rule%2520draft%2520with%2520FUMAM%2520v9%2520post%2520workshop%2520prior%2520to%2520final%2520comment%2520for%2520WEB%2520-%2520AZ%25204-16.pdf&w=hillsborough+county+florida+saturated&d=C31F2BCCE8&icp=1&.intl=us
. . . . . . . . . .
If the problem is potentially a water loss or water conservation
problem that needs to be corrected, this agency might help:
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY WATER RESOURCE TEAM
http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/waterresource/
T. Barton (Bart) Weiss, Team Administrator
County Center, 24th Floor
601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33602
Telephone: (813) 301-7256
. . . . . . . . . .
Here are the Hillsborough government heads should you need to contact
one or more of them:
HILLSBOROUGH BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/bocc/home.cfm
. . . . . . . . . .
I hope these provide you with information that was just as valuable as
the information I listed for Pinellas County.
PS: The source I contacted, the former construction contractor from
Florida, also mentioned that anyone can hire a geologist, either from
a private organization or from a local college in some instances, to
come out and analyze the soil and/or water to try to find the source
of the retained water. This might also be worth a try.
Good luck!
Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
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