Short answer: Palm Bay Public Works' September 22, 2025 report to the Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board lists culvert replacements in Units 10, 12 and 16 under construction, Malabar Road spin casting and Driskell Heights ponds in design, Indian River Lagoon baffle boxes out to bid, and four canal culverts at Highland Avenue, Fairlight Street, Toulon Road and Ixora Avenue awaiting Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District permits. The work is funded through the Stormwater Utility Fund, with state grants on projects such as the Cadillac and Conlan ponds.
Last verified: October 12, 2026, against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Which drainage and culvert projects is Palm Bay working on?
Palm Bay's September 22, 2025 stormwater status report lists eleven Public Works stormwater projects, from culvert replacements in Units 10, 12 and 16 to Malabar Road spin casting and Indian River Lagoon baffle boxes.
Palm Bay Public Works reports drainage progress to the Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board, which met on September 22, 2025 in the City Hall Council Chambers at 120 Malabar Road SE (IAOB minutes, September 22, 2025). At the September 22, 2025 meeting the Assistant Public Works Director gave an Update for Stormwater Projects covering the status of each job (Palm Bay Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board, September 22, 2025). Each status below is dated to that meeting and may have moved since.
| Project | Status reported |
|---|---|
| Malabar Road spin casting | In design; bid solicitation projected for October |
| Driskell Heights improvements | In design for pond improvements |
| Units 10, 12 and 16 culvert replacements | Under construction |
| Cured-in-place pipes | Construction complete; line pipes slated for next year |
| Highland Avenue / C-68 pipe replacement | Box culvert awaiting Melbourne-Tillman permits |
| Haverhill Road stormwater grate replacement | Under construction |
| Cadillac Drive and Robert J. Conlan Boulevard ponds | Baffle boxes in design; grant funded |
| Indian River Lagoon baffle boxes | Bids solicited; partially grant funded |
| Fairlight Street / C-60 pipe replacement | In design; awaiting Melbourne-Tillman permits |
| Toulon Road / C-39 culvert replacement | In design; awaiting Melbourne-Tillman permits |
| Ixora Avenue / C-21 culvert replacement | Design completed; awaiting Melbourne-Tillman permits |
The Haverhill Road job in Palm Bay replaces stormwater grates that had been placed across the road, which staff said reduces the risk of damage to the infrastructure (IAOB minutes, September 22, 2025). The Malabar Road spin casting project was being discussed in house, and the line-pipe follow-up to the completed cured-in-place work was planned for the following year.
Why are so many Palm Bay culverts waiting on Melbourne-Tillman permits?
Many Palm Bay culvert projects sit where a city street crosses a Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District canal, and the district must permit any encroachment on its canal rights-of-way.
Four of the eleven projects in the September 2025 Palm Bay report were waiting on Melbourne Tillman Water Control District permits: Highland Avenue at C-68, Fairlight Street at C-60, Toulon Road at C-39 and Ixora Avenue at C-21 (IAOB minutes, September 22, 2025). The C numbers are canal numbers (the April 2025 minutes call the Highland Avenue job the pipe replacement at Highland Avenue and Canal 68), and the same numbering appears in the city's budget titles, such as Ferguson at C-9 and Galash at C-14 (Resolution 2024-21 memorandum).
The district is large. Created by the Florida Legislature in 1922, it covers parts of Palm Bay, West Melbourne and unincorporated Brevard County and owns and maintains over 2,300 acres of canal rights-of-way in 163 miles of canals (Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District). Its office is at 5990 Minton Road in Palm Bay.
Every encroachment, whether a stormwater discharge or a canal crossing, needs a district permit application with a fee, design drawings and stormwater calculations, reviewed by the district engineer and approved by the Melbourne-Tillman Board of Directors (MTWCD permitting process). The district requires designs within its boundary to use 9.5 inches of rainfall for the 25-year, 24-hour storm, a design standard that applies to land inside the district boundary, which includes portions of the City of Palm Bay (Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District).
How much has Palm Bay budgeted for culvert and pipe work?
Palm Bay's July 2024 capital program amendment listed stormwater repair and replacement work across the city, led by $3,011,000 for Malabar Road drainage and $2,053,760 for the PMU 50 culvert replacement (Resolution 2024-21 memorandum).
The amounts come from the legislative memorandum for Resolution 2024-21, dated July 11, 2024, which moved Palm Bay stormwater jobs out of capital accounts and into account 4648, Stormwater System Repairs and Maintenance, because they did not meet capitalization guidelines (Resolution 2024-21 memorandum).
| Project | Project number | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Malabar Road Drainage | 23SU01 | $3,011,000 |
| PMU 50 Culvert Replacement | 23SU05 | $2,053,760 |
| Cured in Place Pipes | 24SU07 | $2,000,000 |
| Unit 12 and Unit 16 Culvert Replacements | 24SU05, 24SU06 | $800,000 each |
| Units 7, 8, 9 and 10 Culvert Replacements | 24SU01 to 24SU04 | $600,000 each |
| Ferguson @ C-9 Culvert Replacement | 22SU03 | $500,000 |
| Weldon Street @ C-42-R Culvert Replacement | 18SU05 | $450,000 |
| Highland @ C68 Pipe Replacement | 24SU08 | $450,000 |
Equipment is part of the Palm Bay drainage budget too. The same amendment bought vehicles and machinery for Stormwater Utility needs totaling $2,421,226, including two tractors with creeper gear for $502,178 for the trenching crew and two excavators and a loader for the canal crew (Resolution 2024-21 memorandum), plus a bulldozer, a dump truck and two mowers for the same crew (Resolution 2024-21 memorandum). It also closed the Citywide Stormwater Masterplan project, with a CIP impact of $213,377.
What is Palm Bay doing about ponds, baffle boxes and the lagoon?
Palm Bay is adding baffle boxes at Norwood Street, for the Indian River Lagoon and at the Cadillac Drive and Conlan Boulevard ponds, and is designing pond improvements in Driskell Heights.
The largest of these in Palm Bay is the Norwood baffle box retrofit, carried at $1,757,456 in the July 2024 amendment alongside $50,000 for a Turkey Creek Basin project and $4,806 for Driskell Heights improvements (Resolution 2024-21 memorandum). In April 2025 staff told the board a pipe near the Norwood Street lift station failed during the last hurricane, the design was updated after the damage, the Utilities Department was managing the project, and the city had received a grant of $1.8 million (IAOB minutes, April 28, 2025).
The Cadillac and Conlan pond project in Palm Bay is grant backed. Resolution 2025-10 appropriated a Florida Department of Environmental Protection grant from 2024-2025 State Legislative Appropriations of $550,000 and $725,000 from the Stormwater Utility Fund for the Cadillac & Conlan Pond Improvements project, approved by City Council on November 21, 2024 (Resolution 2025-10 memorandum). By September 2025 its baffle boxes were in design, and a separate set of Indian River Lagoon baffle boxes had gone out to bid with partial grant funding (IAOB minutes, September 22, 2025).
Which Palm Bay culvert projects have been finished?
Palm Bay reported the Yukon Drive at Canal 50 pipe replacement complete and the Weldon Street box culvert installed by April 2025, and its cured-in-place pipe lining complete by September 2025.
In the April 28, 2025 Palm Bay report, the Acting Public Works Director said the city installed a box culvert at Weldon Street and Canal 42 and expected the project complete by summer, that the Rockabye Avenue at Canal 41 culvert replacement was in the final stages of closing, and that replacement at Yukon Drive and Canal 50 was complete (IAOB minutes, April 28, 2025). Pipe replacements for Units 10, 12 and 16 had been awarded, and Unit 50 was in design.
Palm Bay has also been lining pipes in place. The April 2025 minutes record that Phase 1 cured-in-place pipes were completed that fiscal year and Phase 2 would finish within weeks (IAOB minutes, April 28, 2025). Staff also said the city was losing out on potential grant funding by not having 100 percent of plans finalized, and set a goal of having more design plans ready for construction.
How are Palm Bay drainage projects paid for and tracked?
Palm Bay funds drainage work through its stormwater utility fee, charged since 2010 and usable only for stormwater services (City of Palm Bay stormwater fee FAQ), with a state grant on the Cadillac and Conlan ponds (Resolution 2025-10 memorandum).
The Palm Bay stormwater FAQ says the fee covers the cost to plan, construct, operate and maintain the city's stormwater management system, and that the city holds a State Stormwater Permit (NPDES MS4 Permit) to operate and maintain it (City of Palm Bay stormwater fee FAQ). Billing details belong to the fee itself; this page follows where the money goes.
Residents can follow Palm Bay projects through the Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board. In July 2024 the board voted to move its meeting time from 7:00 pm to 6:00 pm (IAOB minutes, July 22, 2024), and its minutes are on file in the Public Works Department at 1050 Malabar Road SW (IAOB minutes, September 22, 2025). Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the City of Palm Bay Public Works board minutes posted on the city website.
Frequently asked questions
Who builds drainage projects in Palm Bay?
The City of Palm Bay Public Works Department reports the status of culvert, pipe and pond projects to the Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board, and the Utilities Department managed the Norwood Street baffle box project. Work crossing a Melbourne-Tillman canal also needs a permit from the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District, based at 5990 Minton Road.
Where are Palm Bay's baffle box projects?
Palm Bay lists baffle box work at three places: the Norwood Street retrofit carried at $1,757,456 in July 2024, the grant-funded Cadillac Drive and Conlan Boulevard pond improvements, and a set of Indian River Lagoon baffle boxes that had gone out to bid by September 2025.
Has Palm Bay finished its cured-in-place pipe work?
Palm Bay moved $2,000,000 for cured-in-place pipes (project 24SU07) into stormwater repair accounts in July 2024. The April 2025 minutes record Phase 1 completed that fiscal year, and the September 2025 report listed construction as complete, with a separate line-pipe project slated for the following year.
Why do Palm Bay culvert projects take so long to start?
Many sit under streets crossing Melbourne-Tillman canals, so the district engineer and board must approve each permit first. In September 2025 four Palm Bay culverts, at Highland Avenue, Fairlight Street, Toulon Road and Ixora Avenue, were waiting on those permits.
Where are Palm Bay drainage project updates posted?
Status reports appear in the minutes of the Palm Bay Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board, posted on the city website and kept at Public Works, 1050 Malabar Road SW. Funding changes appear in City Council resolutions amending the five-year capital improvements program.
Sources
- Palm Bay Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board minutes, Meeting 2025-09 (September 22, 2025), page 1 https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/28458/638962211379570000#page=1 Used for: meeting place, Public Works records location
- Palm Bay Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board minutes, September 22, 2025, Update for Stormwater Projects https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/28458/638962211379570000#page=2 Used for: status of each stormwater and culvert project
- Palm Bay Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board minutes, Meeting 2025-04 (April 28, 2025), page 2 https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/28061#page=2 Used for: Weldon, Norwood, Rockabye, Units 10/12/16, Unit 50, Highland, Yukon status
- Palm Bay Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board minutes, April 28, 2025, page 3 https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/28061#page=3 Used for: cured-in-place pipe phases, design-readiness and grants
- Palm Bay Infrastructure Advisory and Oversight Board minutes, Meeting 2024-07 (July 22, 2024) https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/27340/638618217163570000#page=2 Used for: meeting time moved to 6:00 pm
- Legislative memorandum, Resolution 2024-21, Five-Year CIP third amendment (July 11, 2024), page 3 https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/27205/638585344156030000#page=3 Used for: closed stormwater projects, stormwater equipment
- Resolution 2024-21 memorandum, page 4 https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/27205/638585344156030000#page=4 Used for: Norwood baffle box, Turkey Creek Basin, Driskell Heights funding
- Resolution 2024-21 memorandum, page 7 https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/27205/638585344156030000#page=7 Used for: culvert and drainage project amounts
- Legislative memorandum, Resolution 2025-10, Five-Year CIP amendment (February 20, 2025), page 4 https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/27832/638778056017470000#page=4 Used for: Cadillac and Conlan pond improvements funding
- City of Palm Bay Stormwater Utility Fee FAQ https://www.palmbayfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/25877/638035184352770000 Used for: fee since 2010, use limited to stormwater, MS4 permit
- Permitting Process, Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District https://melbournetillman.specialdistrict.org/permitting-process Used for: canal encroachment permits, design storm
- District Overview, Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District https://melbournetillman.specialdistrict.org/district-overview Used for: district size, canals, Palm Bay coverage
