Flooded Lake Bonny residents demand action from Lakeland city leaders

LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — Frustrated Lake Bonny residents and Lakeland city leaders agreed on one thing Monday: the pump to release water from their neighborhoods is not working efficiently enough.

“If it were, the water would be out of the lake,” said Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz during a lengthy back and forth with residents at Monday’s city commission meeting.

It has been an issue of contention for Lake Bonny residents since before Hurricane Milton hit.

They said they observed the high lake level this summer.

City officials said they started pumping 5,000 gallons per minute out of Lake Bonny and into Lake Parker on Aug. 5.

“If the pump had been running since August 5th, our house would not have flooded,” said David Dickey to the city commissioners.

“It’s under my house; it’s pretty much ruined all my floors,” Michael Coker told the commissioners.

After significant rainfall from Hurricane Milton, the lake has surrounded homes in mobile home parks and in homes along Lake Bonny Drive, where Michael and Pam Smith live.

“It’s not my fault to have a second mortgage on my house to rebuild, sir,” Michael Smith told the city commission. “It’s the people behind these desks and we elect you and we expect you to freakin’ fight for us.”

Pam Smith choked up talking about the pride she takes in her home, which she said is now inhabitable.

“We have no flood insurance,” she said. “Our homeowners’ is going to deny us because it’s strictly a flood. Where does that leave us? Where does that leave us and many other people on this lake who have invested?”

Back at the commission meeting, the mayor, city manager Shawn Sherrouse, and city commissioners expressed sympathy and sadness for what the residents are experiencing.

Many of them have visited the neighborhoods and the flooded homes.

“I cannot imagine how you feel with your homes devastated, and I am so, so, so sorry. I don’t typically get emotional so forgive me,” commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley said. “We are sick over this.”

McCarley said if it were up to the city of Lakeland, a solution would have been put into place by now.

At the meeting, city leaders said they were working behind the scenes with different entities, including the Polk County government, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and railroad company, CSX.

Commissioner Stephanie Madden grew tired of not being able to be transparent about talks to find better pumping solutions, including laying pipes over railroad tracks.

“CSX, they say you can’t go over the tracks so then you have to bore underneath the tracks so then we have to figure out the cost of boring underneath the tracks and officially get a sign off from CSX because they were here before we were and they’re like God whenever you want to do anything,” she said.

News Channel 8 has reached out to CSX for comment. A spokesperson said they are looking into the issue.

City Manager Shawn Sherrouse said somebody checks on the current pump four times a day, including over the weekend.

Debris collection and “cavitation” are impacting the efficiency of the pump, officials said.

“Where it’s being pumped to can only handle so much,” said city commissioner Mike Musick about the pump. “The other thing is just debris from the storm. We had a hurricane blowing stuff all over the place.”

Mutz said in an interview with News Channel 8 he could not defend the pump because residents’ homes are still surrounded by water.

“Obviously hindsight’s 20/20,” he said. “We didn’t do everything we could have and should have done in this and I think over time, the good news is that this will help us fix that need on the longer term basis.”

He said the city could install two high velocity pumps this week.

“That takes a multi-jurisdictional coordination,” Mutz said. “If we got that done short term this week, we could really have that lake down in five to eight days.”

Meanwhile, Pam Smith said she believes nothing in her home is recoverable, due to flooding and sewage issues.

She planned on retiring in the secluded home with a beautiful view of Lake Bonny.

“Due to their negligence, our home could very possibly be condemned,” she said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.