This email today from Justin Bloom, attorney for Suncoast Waterkeeper and additional plaintiffs whose wastewater lawsuit will bring advanced wastewater treatment to Sarasota County.
Bloom wrote:
Today the Federal Judge approved our settlement and dismissed the case, while retaining jurisdiction to allow us to ensure that the County follows through on the many commitments made within the settlement. In 14 days, they start facing stipulated penalties for new spills - and failures to follow-through on all the commitment (injunctive relief) items set forth in the settlement.
On behalf of Suncoast Waterkeeper, our co-plaintiffs Ecological Rights Foundation, Our Children's Earth Foundation, our stellar lead counsel, Kaki Schmidt, I thank you for your time and your willingness to step up and help fight to protect our waterways. It is a big win.
Below is the title page followed by the key rulings and the key monitoring of the upgrade to the county's wastewater system at Bee Ridge Extension, which is due for completion by 2025.
County would have to convert Bee Ridge Water Reclamation Facility to advanced treatment complex and pay $610,000 fine in latest draft of state consent order involving millions of gallons of spills
County countered at one point with proposal to construct more sewer systems in Phillippi Creek Basin
An aerial map shows the location of the Bee Ridge Water Reclamation Facility. Image from Google Maps
The latest draft of a consent order between the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and Sarasota County regarding spills from the county’s Bee Ridge Water Reclamation Facility calls for the conversion of that operation to an Advanced Wastewater Treatment plant by Dec. 31, 2024, The Sarasota News Leader has learned.
The proposed order also would require the county to pay $610,000 in state penalties.
The negotiations between FDEP and county staff members follow 24 incidents associated with the Bee Ridge plant since the summer of 2018, the draft order points out:
From Aug. 16, 2018 through Oct. 30, 2018, the draft says, the county discharged 205,197,000 gallons of treated effluent from the reclaimed water storage pond at the Bee Ridge site.
From Dec. 23, 2018 through March 12 of this year, discharges of treated effluent from that pond “were reported to have totaled 218,252,000 gallons.”
From March 18 through March 26, another 9,034,000 gallons was discharged from the pond.
Additionally, the draft order says that “22 wastewater spills (treated and untreated)” were associated with the Central County Water Reclamation Facility. One of them, the draft notes, “was treated effluent.” That facility is located at 7905 McIntosh Road in Sarasota.
Another 18 spills of untreated wastewater have been associated with the Venice Gardens Water Reclamation Facility, the draft says. That facility stands at 375 Venice E. Blvd. in Venice.
The county “failed to provide timely construction of wastewater facilities necessary to provide proper disposal, resulting in the multi-week discharges of treated effluent from the overflow weir in the reuse storage pond at the Bee Ridge Facility,” in violation of state regulations, the draft adds. FDEP has found that more than 420,000,000 gallons of treated effluent was discharged from the pond on the Bee Ridge plant site, the draft says.
In responding to News Leader requests for copies of FDEP documents, department spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller wrote in a June 11 email, “Protecting Florida’s environment and public health and safety is DEP’s top priority and we take every unauthorized discharge seriously.”
She added, “The Draft Consent Order includes corrective actions for the reuse disposal capacity issue as well as for the raw spills in the collection systems of all the county’s facilities (Bee Ridge and Central County and Venice Gardens). These include both short-term and long-term remedies. In the short-term the Bee Ridge facility will construct the necessary infrastructure to dispose of [its] reuse water in an existing Underground Injection Control well at the Central County Facility. This will cease the discharge,” she pointed out while the county undertakes a long-term fix, “which includes new Aquifer Recharge Wells being constructed.”
The conversion of the Bee Ridge plant to an Advanced Wastewater Treatment facility, Miller continued, “will significantly improve the quality of reuse water being utilized for irrigation in the watershed and reduce the amount of nutrients potentially running off into Sarasota Bay.”
A graphic shown to participants at the June 5 Water Quality Summit explains advanced wastewater treatment. ‘F.S.’ refers to the Florida Statutes. Image courtesy Sarasota County
Miller also pointed out that for the draft order to be “finalized and executed it must be approved by the County Commission. Once it is executed, it will be a legally enforceable agreement.”
In early May, Mike Mylett, interim director of the county’s Public Utilities Department, told the commissioners that staff estimated the expense of converting all three county water reclamation facilities to advanced treatment centers would range between $70 million and $90 million.
Last week, during the county’s Water Quality Summit, Mylett told the approximately 650 people present that the expense for just the Bee Ridge facility would be between $50 million and $100 million. He also noted that of the three county water reclamation plants, only the Bee Ridge facility sits on a site large enough to make such a conversion possible.
On May 8, commissioners indicated a willingness to issue bonds to provide the necessary funding for major water quality projects, given the high bond ratings the county has received from the major rating agencies.
This graphic shows details about the nitrogen loads from water reclamation plants in the county. It was shown to the County Commission on May 8. Image courtesy Sarasota County
During that early May discussion, Walter also cautioned the commissioners that if they do not pursue measures to improve the quality of water in the bays — in the face of data showing demonstrated seagrass loss — then it is likely they will have to contend with state and federal regulatory action dictating such steps.
As negotiations proceed on the FDEP consent order, some discussion of potential expenses could arise as the County Commission conducts its annual, intensive workshops to finalize the county budget for the next fiscal year. Those sessions are scheduled for June 18 and 19, with a third set for June 21, in the event the board needs more time than the first two days will allow.
The commissioners this year have told staff that they do not want to raise the millage rate, though it will increase because of the voter-approved referendum allowing the county to issue $65 million in bonds to finance the North Extension and other improvements to The Legacy Trail.
Typically, during the June budget workshops, county administrative staff will bring to the board’s attention any new proposals for spending since the previous budget workshop. The last discussions the commission conducted about the fiscal year 2020 budget were on May 17.
Given the FDEP proposed fine of $610,000, staff next week may ask for direction — or offer suggestions — about how that could be covered.
A counterproposal
This November 2018 graphic shows the Phillippi Creek Septic Replacement System. Image courtesy Sarasota County
An earlier version of the draft order, which the Sierra Club provided to the News Leader, called for the county to eliminate septic tanks and connect homes to sewer systems in two more areas of the Phillippi Creek Basin — Areas M West and D4. That work would have been in lieu of converting the Bee Ridge plant to an Advanced Wastewater Treatment facility.
In a June 3 letter to FDEP, Cris Costello, organizing manager of the Sierra Club in Osprey, wrote that the county’s discharges between Aug. 16, 2018 and Oct. 22, 2018 “had an average nitrogen concentration of 19.3 mg/L [milligrams per liter], based upon County Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) submitted to FDEP …” That equates, Costello continued, to 33,101 pounds of nitrogen discharged directly to Phillippi Creek. Based on scientific calculations Costello cited, that is more nitrogen than the load produced by all the septic systems the county was proposing to hook up to new sewer lines in the Phillippi Creek watershed, her letter pointed out.
Mylett, the county’s interim director of Public Utilities, told the County Commission in early May that an advanced wastewater treatment system would reduce the nitrogen load to 3 mg per liter.
“Ironically,” Costello pointed out in her letter, “the majority of this direct loading to Phillippi Creek also occurred during the County’s fertilizer ‘restricted period’ of June 1 through September 30, in conflict with the intent of the County’s own fertilizer ordinance to limit nitrogen loads.”
Scientists consistently point to nitrogen as the primary food for the red tide algae. (See the related stories in this issue.)
Costello then noted that the county’s discharge of reclaimed water between Dec. 23, 2018 and March 24 of this year had an average nitrogen concentration of 14.9 mg per liter, based upon the county DMRs submitted to FDEP. Those discharges, she wrote, equated to 28,235 pounds of nitrogen going into Phillippi Creek, which also was greater than the annual loading from all the septic systems the county was proposing to hook up to sewer lines in Areas M West and D4.
This is an exhibit filed with the federal lawsuit. Image courtesy U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
As county staff negotiates with FDEP, county leaders also are in the midst of a federal lawsuit regarding the discharges from the water reclamation plants. That complaint was filed this spring by three nonprofit organizations: the Suncoast Waterkeeper, Our Children’s Earth Foundation and the Ecological Rights Foundation. The nonprofits have alleged county violations of the U.S. Clean Water Act, contending that the county illegally discharged “raw sewage, partially treated sewage and/or treated reclaimed water into Phillippi Creek, Cowpen Slough, Whitaker Bayou, and streams and other waters that are tributaries to Sarasota Bay, Roberts Bay, Dona/Roberts Bay and the Gulf of Mexico in or adjoining Sarasota County.”
Give-and-take of the negotiations
As negotiating has continued over both the short- and long-term solutions, the latest version of the FDEP consent order calls for the county “to cease all unauthorized discharges of treated wastewater from the Bee Ridge Facility” by Aug. 30.
An earlier version of the document cited July 19 as the date and did not specify the Bee Ridge plant.
Additionally, within five days of the effective date of the order, the county is to retain the services of a professional engineer registered in the State of Florida to design the proposed short-term modifications of its wastewater treatment facilities, “effluent disposal systems, and effluent conveyance systems.” The county also would have to complete an engineering report “demonstrating that, after implementation of the [short-term] modifications, the Facilities will not discharge air or water contaminants in sufficient quantity … so as to contribute significantly to the pollution problems within the State.”
Moreover, the latest draft says the county would agree to pay FDEP $2,000 per day in penalties “for each and every day [the county] fails to timely comply with any of the requirements of this Consent Order, other than unauthorized discharges.”
An earlier version put the penalties at $2,500 per day.
This graphic, presented to county Water Quality Summit attendees, shows how wastewater treatment functions. Image courtesy Sarasota County
A separate section of the latest draft also specifies penalties for unauthorized discharges “from any part of any of the [county’s] wastewater collection and transmission systems, wastewater treatment works, reuse or disposal systems, conveyance or storage systems, and residual management systems,” as follows:
$500 for up to 5,000 gallons.
$1,000 for 5,001 to 10,000 gallons.
$2,500 for 10,001 to 25,000 gallons.
$5,000 for 25,001 to 100,000 gallons.
$10,000 for any discharge in excess of 100,000 gallons.
Further, the draft calls for the county to submit to FDEP a written report every six months containing information about the status of the projects outlined in the order, as well as “any reasons for noncompliance.”
An earlier version required a report every calendar quarter.
A months-long process
In her June 11 email to the News Leader, Miller of FDEP wrote, “In the event of a discharge, our response is threefold: (1) work with the facility to identify any releases and ensure the release is stopped as quickly as possible; (2) gather and analyze information surrounding the circumstances of the reported incident to evaluate it from a regulatory perspective to determine if there were any violations; (3) identify any further corrective actions needed, including solutions to avoid future discharges and possible enforcement.”
Miller continued, “DEP has a number of enforcement tools we are able to use to address any identified violations. The nature of the violation and circumstances surrounding the event are used in the determination of which one is best suited. Along with the possibility of fines and penalties, which is one enforcement tool, enforcement can also be requiring necessary restoration and/or remediation actions through a Compliance Assistance Offer, Consent Order or other enforcement mechanism.”
On Jan. 28, Miller wrote, FDEP sent a warning letter to Sarasota County, notifying county leaders “of possible violations of law for which Sarasota County Utilities may be responsible at the county’s Bee Ridge and Central facilities.”
This is a portion of the warning letter FDEP sent the county in January. Image courtesy FDEP
She added that the warning letter required the county to set up a meeting to discuss the matter within 15 days.
“This meeting was held on March 4, 2019,” Miller continued. At that time, [FDDP] staff “made it clear that the county must immediately implement a daily notification protocol during discharge events and that they are to make it their top priority to explore every opportunity to temporarily divert water to reduce or eliminate the discharge and to consider upgrading their plant to advanced waste treatment (AWT) and constructing additional permittable treated wastewater disposal capacity on an accelerated schedule,” Miller explained.
Letter from Sierra Club to FDEP regarding Sarasota County's wastewater treatment failures:
Sierra Club Florida supports the original mitigation in FDEP’s draft consent order requiring that Sarasota County upgrade their wastewater treatment plans to meet advanced wastewater treatment (AWT). We oppose Sarasota County’s (County) counter offer to delete this mitigation requirement in favor of connecting more wastewater flows from onsite sewer treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS). In fact, the state of Sarasota County wastewater management system is in such disarray with excessive discharges, nutrient concentrations, and spills that we would support FDEP limiting any additional flows being accepted from OSTDS or new development until the County has at least committed to upgrade to AWT.
Sarasota County acquired several AWT facilities, shut them down, and diverted that water to its own non-AWT facilities
5. Based upon Sarasota County’s 2001 Bee Ridge Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) WRF Expansion Facilities Plan, the Bee Ridge WWTF was originally AWT but was converted to secondary treatment with filtration. In addition, it is our understanding that Sarasota County has purchased and decommissioned at least four WWTFs (Siesta Key Utilities, South Gate, Gulf Gate, and Aqua Utilities) that were previously meeting AWT standards. This wastewater, formerly treated to AWT standards, has been diverted to the County’s non-AWT plants where the resulting effluent now has significantly higher nutrient concentrations.
ii. The County’s discharge of 205,197,000 gallons of reclaimed water between 8/16/18 and 10/22/18 had an average nitrogen concentration of 19.3 mg/L, based upon County Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) submitted to FDEP, equates to 33,101 pounds of nitrogen discharged directly to Phillippi Creek.
. . . nitrogen levels in Sarasota’s bays have been documented, by Sarasota County, as increasing over the past 20 years. This increase has been accompanied by a documented decrease of seagrass coverage in recent years.
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Entire Text:
June 3, 2019
Jon Iglehart Director, South District Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2295 Victoria Avenue
Suite 364
Fort Myers, FL 33901
RE: Consent Order to Sarasota County Utilities
Dear Mr. Iglehart:
Please accept this as an interjection in the matter of FDEP’s consent order to Sarasota County Utilities on behalf of Sierra Club Florida. Specifically, Sierra Club Florida supports the original mitigation in FDEP’s draft consent order requiring that Sarasota County upgrade their wastewater treatment plans to meet advanced wastewater treatment (AWT). We oppose Sarasota County’s (County) counter offer to delete this mitigation requirement in favor of connecting more wastewater flows from onsite sewer treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS). In fact, the state of Sarasota County wastewater management system is in such disarray with excessive discharges, nutrient concentrations, and spills that we would support FDEP limiting any additional flows being accepted from OSTDS or new development until the County has at least committed to upgrade to AWT. We present the following in support of this position:
1. A “preliminary planning level” estimate of costs to upgrade to AWT and cap on costs by the end of the year as proffered by the County does not appear to be a good faith effort to address the issue.
2. The County’s proposed mitigation seems counter-productive at this point; the County is not in a position to take on more flows without satisfactorily addressing their disposal capacity and nutrient issues.
3. Since the County seems to want to estimate nitrogen loads regarding OSTDS:
i. Based upon information from the Florida Department of Health cited by Dr. Mary Lusk
with the University of Florida-IFAS Extension (Septic Systems 101), the average gross and net nitrogen loadings for an OSWDTS are 11.2 and 7.8 grams of nitrogen per person per day, respectively. These would equate to gross and net loadings of 19.8 and 13.8 pounds of nitrogen per household per year, respectively, assuming 2.2 people per household. The net 13.8 pounds of nitrogen per household per year is still conservative since it does not consider denitrification, which likely occurs due to the unique hydrogeology of areas like Sarasota County. The County’s 25 pounds reflects the gross nitrogen load, and basically assumes that all of the OSTDS are failing. Therefore the County’s estimated nitrogen load reduction of 35,000 pounds from 14,000 OSTDS should actually be 19,230 pounds, which is still conservative since it does not consider denitrification.
ii. The County’s discharge of 205,197,000 gallons of reclaimed water between 8/16/18 and 10/22/18 had an average nitrogen concentration of 19.3 mg/L, based upon County Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) submitted to FDEP, equates to 33,101 pounds of nitrogen discharged directly to Phillippi Creek. This event loading is greater than the annual loading from all the OSTDS that the County is proposing to hook up as mitigation. Ironically, the majority of this direct loading to Phillippi Creek also occurred during the County’s fertilizer “restricted period” of June 1 through September 30, in conflict with intent of the County’s own fertilizer ordinance to limit nitrogen loads.
iii. The County’s discharge of 227,287,000 gallons of reclaimed water between 12/23/18 and 3/24/19 had an average nitrogen concentration of 14.9 mg/L, based upon County DMRs submitted to FDEP, equates to 28,235 pounds of nitrogen discharged directly to Phillippi Creek. This event loading is also greater than the annual loading from all the OSTDS that County is proposing to hook up as mitigation.
4. Based upon the DMR’s submitted by Sarasota County to FDEP, the average nitrogen concentrations in 2018 from the Bee Ridge, Central County, and Venice Gardens Wastewater Treatment Facilities (WWTFs) were 18.3 mg/L, 7.66 mg/L, and 14.2 mg/L, respectively. These reflect the average nitrogen concentrations of the “treated” wastewater or reclaimed water. This is not just reflective of the nutrients that might be directly (and illegally) discharged, but of those which are being put into the environment to irrigate lawns, landscapes and golf courses. The application of the County’s effluent reclaimed water is resulting in the application of significant and year-round nitrogen in addition to nitrogen fertilizer to the environment. This is in direct conflict with the intent of the Sarasota County’s own fertilizer regulations that bans the application of nitrogen fertilizer between June 1 and September 30; and limits the total nitrogen application to 4 pounds per 10,000 square feet per year. Sierra Club believes that upgrading their WWTFs to meet the AWT for nitrogen of 3 mg/L, or even better the nutrient numeric criteria for freshwater streams of 1.65 mg/L, would put Sarasota County in a position to eliminate nitrogen loads to the extent practical. It is noted that the City of Sarasota’s wastewater is currently meeting the numeric nutrient criteria for both nitrogen and phosphorus, so such a goal is in fact practical and achievable.
5. Based upon Sarasota County’s 2001 Bee Ridge Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) WRF Expansion Facilities Plan, the Bee Ridge WWTF was originally AWT but was converted to secondary treatment with filtration. In addition, it is our understanding that Sarasota County has purchased and decommissioned at least four WWTFs (Siesta Key Utilities, South Gate, Gulf Gate, and Aqua Utilities) that were previously meeting AWT standards. This wastewater, formerly treated to AWT standards, has been diverted to the County’s non-AWT plants where the resulting effluent now has significantly higher nutrient concentrations. Conservatively assuming that the combined flow from these 4 WWTFs was 4.0 million gallons a day (the combined permitted capacity of these 4 WWTFs exceeded 8 mgd) and given the average 2018 nitrogen concentration difference between the Bee Ridge Plant of 18.3 mg/L and the AWT limit of 3 mg/L, equates to an additional annual nitrogen load of 187,000 pounds. This represents not only a huge step backwards but results in an increased nitrogen load to the environment that is almost 10 times greater than that of the County’s proposed but misdirected and inadequate mitigation (19,320 pounds).
6. Finally, nitrogen levels in Sarasota’s bays have been documented, by Sarasota County, as increasing over the past 20 years. This increase has been accompanied by a documented decrease of seagrass coverage in recent years. It is not unreasonable to conclude that the increase in nitrogen is in part due to Sarasota County’s poor wastewater planning and misdirected public investments, resulting in illegal spills and discharges of nitrogen-rich wastewater to the waters of the State as well as to the landscape that drain to state waters. Since the City of Sarasota’s existing WWTF exceeds AWT standards; the Bee Ridge WWTF met AWT prior to being downgraded by Sarasota County; and numerous private WWTFs were meeting AWT prior to being purchased and deactivated by Sarasota County, the technology to meet AWT is both practical and possible. Therefore, it is demonstrated both possible and practical for Sarasota County to convert their WWTFs to AWT and the Sierra Club supports FDEP’s consent order to require such for the Bee Ridge and Central County Plants but also advocates the upgrading of the Venice Gardens WWTF to AWT, given its high nitrogen levels, to mitigate for past, present, and future nutrient loads.
Thank you for considering Sierra Club’s concerns and our position in support of a strong Consent Order that will go further than Sarasota County’s proposed amended Draft to assure future compliance with the law. We would appreciate the opportunity for additional review and comment as the Department’s enforcement action matures towards resolution.
Sincerely,
Cris Costello Organizing Manager Sierra Club 2127 S. Tamiami Trail Osprey, FL 34229 941-914-0421 cris.costello@sierraclub.org
cc: Jennifer Carpenter, Assistant Director of District Management, FDEP
New county water quality fee proposed as potential revenue source to back bonds
A graph shows the increase in the level of nitrogen in Sarasota Bay over the past two decades. Image courtesy Sarasota County
Given the strong fiscal health of Sarasota County, the majority of the county commissioners this week expressed a willingness to borrow money to put the county’s water quality programs on equally firm footing.
After a comprehensive staff presentation on what has been done and what could be done to reduce the nutrient load going into the county’s waterways — and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico — Commissioners Michael Moran and Christian Ziegler indicated a preference for upgrading the county’s three wastewater treatment plants to advanced treatment facilities (AWWTF) at an expense estimated between $70 million and $90 million. The goal would be to reduce the total nitrogen discharge to 3 milligrams (mg) per liter, or less, from the Bee Ridge, Central County and Venice Gardens facilities, Mike Mylett, interim director of the county’s Public Utilities Department, told the board members on May 8.
The total nitrogen load for the Bee Ridge facility is 14 mg per liter; for the Central County plant, 9; and for Venice Gardens, 14, according to a slide Mylett showed the commissioners. A note on that slide said that 2 mg per day is removed from the overall nitrogen load produced by each facility, thanks to deep well injections.
Altogether, the three county wastewater treatment plants, along with facilities in the City of Sarasota, Venice, North Port and Englewood — plus 35 private operations — produce about 624,000 pounds of nitrogen a year, Mylett pointed out, although not all of that goes directly to the bays. (Only the City of Sarasota facility is an AWWTF, according to a chart Mylett showed the board. That initiative cost the city $80 million, he said.)
With the improvements to the county’s three wastewater treatment plants, the slide noted, the total nitrogen load could be reduced to about 298,000 pounds a year.
This graphic shows details about the nitrogen loads from wastewater treatment plants in the county. Image courtesy Sarasota County
Red tide research has shown that nitrogen is the primary feeder for the algae that produces the blooms, Karenia brevis.
All of the commissioners talked of the fact that this would be an opportune time for them to pursue the borrowing of money for major projects.
Altogether, staff said on May 8, a variety of proposals — including the elimination of more septic tanks and improvements to stormwater systems — would cost about $310 million. Extra annual operating expenses — an estimated $20 million — would be necessary, as well.
“To me, after hearing all this,” Commissioner Moran began, “I feel that all roads lead back to us moving our community to [advanced wastewater treatment].” That conversion, he continued, would lead to the biggest return on investment for the taxpayers.
Referencing the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report presentation the board heard on May 7 — provided by the Office of the Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller — Moran added, “Our debt ratios are incredibly fiscally conservative, [and the county’s bond ratings] are excellent. … Our interest rates are at historic lows. … I want the true solution to this,” he told Chuck Walter, manager of the county’s Stormwater Division, “and then we make the difficult decisions.”
This slide reflects findings in the 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for Sarasota County. Image courtesy Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller
“I think Commissioner Moran is right,” Commissioner Ziegler said, adding that he would like for staff to come back to the board with funding options that would lead to the greatest positive results.
Commissioner Alan Maio further pointed to the community pressure on the board to try to prevent a recurrence of the economic devastation of red tide last year, noting “the bludgeoning” businesses took.
As Spencer Anderson, director of the county’s Public Works Department, put it at the outset of the presentation, the red tide bloom that worsened in early August 2018 and persisted for several more months “was crippling, to say the least,” to the county’s economy.
Commissioner Nancy Detert asked staff members for detailed cost estimates — including the potential expenses to homeowners of specific proposals — and information about sources of revenue. “I think we need to put our plan into effect while we can still borrow really cheap.”
In response to a question from Detert, Walter said that over the past six or seven years, the county has received about $50 million from various sources for water quality initiatives. “There’s probably going to be more external money available [in the future],” he added. However, almost all grants require significant local matches, he noted.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has let the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) board and staff know that he wants the district to put a focus on water quality improvements that will benefit the Gulf of Mexico, Chair Charles Hines added.
This graphic shows investments the county already has made in water quality. Image courtesy Sarasota County
The board members further concurred that they will need to make decisions about exactly how they want to proceed as they hold discussions in June during their workshops on the 2020 fiscal year budget.
In response to a question from The Sarasota News Leader, the county Office of Financial Management (OFM) reported in a May 9 email that the commission could not issue bonds totaling more than $23,712,978 if it pursued a general government borrow that would have to be paid off with property tax revenue. Any amount above that tied to ad valorem tax revenue would have to be approved by voters through a referendum, mirroring the process the commission pursued last year to raise money for the North Extension and other connections of The Legacy Trail.
The bonding limitation is laid out in Section 5.2D of the County Charter.
However, the OFM staff pointed out that no limitation exists if the commission were to issue bonds that would be paid back with revenue generated by an “Enterprise fund.” The county Stormwater and Solid Waste divisions, for examples, produce revenue from user fees; thus, those accounts are called “Enterprise funds.”
On May 8, Chair Hines emphasized that the commissioners must make sure the members of the public understand that they can expect higher costs pegged to new county initiatives.
One funding option that Walter, manager of the Stormwater Division, proposed is a county assessment on property owners, with the revenue dedicated to improved water quality. Staff would like to explore that, Walter said. If the county had funds from such an assessment, he explained, “Then we would have a significant bonding component right upfront.”
Walter meant that the county could pledge the revenue from the assessments to debt service for bonds.
The seagrass issue
A graphic provides details about seagrass decline over the past two years. Image courtesy Sarasota County
During his part of the presentation, Walter also cautioned the board members that if they do not pursue measures to improve the quality of water in the bays — in the face of demonstrated seagrass loss — then it is likely they will have to contend with state and federal regulatory action dictating the steps they must take to achieve specific goals.
A slide Walter showed the board said that from 2016 to 2018, Lemon Bay lost 319 acres of seagrass; Little Sarasota Bay, 196 acres; Sarasota Bay, 149; Blackburn Bay, 95; and Roberts Bay, 12 acres. Those estimates came from SWFWMD on March 27, the slide noted.
Only Dona Bay has seen an increase in seagrass acreage, thanks to county initiatives over the past years to improve its water quality, staff has explained.
Commissioner Detert talked of her desire for the commission to act on its own before such regulatory oversight might become necessary.
What does the public want?
As they discussed how best to proceed, Chair Hines said he hopes the public will contact the commissioners about preferences for board priorities among those staff had discussed that morning.
Hines referenced the primary areas of focus: the conversion to the advanced wastewater treatment plants; continued removal of septic tanks in the Phillippi Creek Basin, plus a proposal for a new program that would entail pumping out private septic tanks every five years and concurrent tank inspections; and the improvements to stormwater systems.
This graphic provides details about a program that would eliminate more septic tanks. Image courtesy Sarasota County
The pump-out/septic tank inspection program would necessitate changes to the County Code, Chuck Henry, director of the county’s Health and Human Services Department, explained. It would be designed for homes in the more rural areas of the county that are distant from sewer connections, he indicated.
About 20,000 septic systems across the county are within 900 feet of surface waters, Henry said, as determined by a Sarasota Bay Estuary study. The total estimated cost for new sewer systems to eliminate just the 12,000 septic tanks in the unincorporated part of the county is $190 million, Henry pointed out.
Altogether, about 40,000 septic systems remain in operation countywide, Henry said.
Hines talked of his interest in a suggestion Walter, the Stormwater Division manager, had made: working with the City of Sarasota to use city right of way to the eastern part of the county to lay new county pipeline that would divert stormwater from the Whitaker Bayou and Phillippi Creek watersheds. That stormwater then could be used for irrigation or other purposes, Walter explained.
This graphic shows changes in the Phillippi Creek Basin as a result of growth in the county. ‘TN’ refers to the total amount of nitrogen. Image courtesy Sarasota County
The City of Sarasota uses the right of way corridor for its reclaimed water distribution system, Walter noted.
The estimated expense of the county project was put at $40 million, with the goal of removing 20,000 pounds of nitrogen a year from the waterways and reducing flooding in neighborhoods.
“Whitaker Bayou’s been a problem for many, many years,” Hines said.
“We’re really solving multiple issues with a solution like this,” Walter pointed out.
Education and outreach
At various times during the approximately 95-minute discussion, commissioners also stressed the need to educate the public about what the county has done to improve water quality, as well as the benefits of the new proposals.
Both Commissioners Detert and Maio talked of the reluctance of homeowners to pay to convert from septic tanks to sewer systems.
As a Florida legislator prior to becoming a commissioner, Detert noted, she helped win state grants for the conversion to central sewer of most of the approximately 10,000 septic systems in the Phillippi Creek Basin. If the county were able to make the switch to central sewer less expensive, she said, more people would agree to it.
Henry, the Health and Human Services director, acknowledged, “The biggest pushback we always hear is … ‘I’m on a fixed income right now, [and] I pay nothing for my wastewater …’”
“On the other side of that,” Henry said, is the fact that “there’s a cost to the community and the environment.” Every homeowner hooked up to central sewer pays a monthly bill, Henry pointed out, which helps keep the environment clean.
Maio talked about the “absolute uproar” he has heard from residents of subdivisions without sewer systems when he has talked about the county’s efforts to eliminate septic tanks. Yet, Maio continued, those homeowners generally do not think about the necessity of leaving their property vacant around the septic tanks, which means they cannot have detached garages or in-ground swimming pools, for examples. They would have freer use of their land, he pointed out, if they were using a central sewer system.
This graphic provides details about septic systems. ‘TN’ refers to total nitrogen. Image courtesy Sarasota County
Commissioner Ziegler said he had not thought about that. “Being able to get a significant chunk of your property back … is a big selling point.”
Members of the staff of the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Program (UF/IFAS) in the county “will be critical,” Henry said, in helping property owners understand the benefits of eliminating septic systems.
Ziegler also talked of the need for the commissioners and county staff to “get more aggressive” with county communications to the public, noting how much misinformation he hears. “The community wants [the facts]; I don’t think they’re misinformed on purpose.”
