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Court hearing for woman accused of clogging Shadow Bay storm pipe
FOX 35's Marie Edinger was live at the court hearing for the woman accused of filling a storm pipe with cement in Shadow Bay which led to damaging flooding.
LONGWOOD, Fla. - The people in Longwood’s Shadow Bay Community can finally rest easy. They no longer have to fear flooded streets with every rainstorm.
At a special magistrate's hearing Thursday, Seminole County Code Enforcement announced that Diane Goglas, who filled a storm pipe with cement and caused frequent flooding, has now fixed the system.
What caused the flooding in Shadow Bay?
The backstory:
The Shadow Bay community in Longwood faced significant risk of flooding after a woman reportedly filled a drainage pipe with cement in the spring of last year, creating a backlog in the neighborhood's stormwater system.
Diane Goglas is the woman county officials hold responsible for filling the pipe with cement. In March, Goglas sent her neighbors a letter saying she believed a drain pipe was installed on her property without her permission. In the letter, she asked for compensation for water moving across her property, saying, "I advise you of this because once I close that pipe off, you will have a drain problem that will back up on the road and on your property."
In April, she sealed off the pipe. In June, neighbors started feeling the effects.
"I filled in the two manholes and that broken pipe because I didn't want any more erosion on my property," Goglas told FOX 35 News in a July interview.
In the interim, a pump was installed to help move some water, preventing it from immediately flooding the streets. A contractor also met with county officials to draft a plan for repairing the damaged pipe.
Goglas was given a deadline to address the problem or face citations and fines. She received county approval for a permit to fix the drainage system that caused persistent flooding in the neighborhood for over eight months.
Storm pipe fixed, flooding resolved
What they're saying:
"I apologize," Goglas told the judge during the special magistrate's hearing. "But if I didn’t put cement in those areas – which was just a small area in front of my house – it would have been more of a disaster for me."
While this may seem like a closed chapter, residents are still fighting their civil lawsuit.
Goglas maintains that a pipe under her house was broken, causing sinkholes, so she filled it with cement to block the water flow. She had warned neighbors that flooding might occur, and it did.
"This is probably a testament to relying on our professionals and making sure that, before you change a drainage pattern on your property, even if it is your property, you should probably hire an engineer and go through the proper channels to make sure that you’re not disrupting anyone else around you," the special magistrate told Goglas.
What was the price to fix the pipe?
What we know:
In a court filing, Goglas said she has spent over $62,000 to fix the pipe, and the special magistrate ordered her to pay about $1,250 in administrative costs for her own code violation hearings.
What they're saying:
Residents like Janelle Taylor still feel a sense of injustice.
"I do think it’s unfortunate that she hasn’t been made to pay fines for the violation itself, after holding our neighborhood hostage for 8 months," Taylor said.
Goglas also claims she has incurred $36,000 in legal fees, a figure that could increase as the Shadow Bay HOA’s civil suit against her continues.
RELATED: Longwood residents face steep HOA fee hike over drain pipe dispute
Residents are hoping to get reimbursed for the 86% increase in HOA fees they paid for the legal battle and for damages to their property.
"There’s all kinds of things there that we incurred costs for. Damages to our landscapes, to our road, to our signage," Taylor said. "And those things need to be paid back and restored to the way they were before this situation happened."
Goglas has a quick hearing in her civil suit scheduled for March 10.
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The Source: This story was written based on information taken from a special magistrate's hearing on Jan. 9, 2025, Seminole County Code Enforcement, Shadow Bay residents, including Diane Goglas, and court filings.