Click here to see the video replay of the entire meeting ==> CC Quarterly Utilities Meeting: July 16, 2024
Summary of Meeting & Conversation by Percy Angelo
On July 16, 2024 the Charlotte Commission held a meeting on utility issues, include the Sewer Master Plan update and the Cape Haze sewer issue. You can watch the meeting on the Charlotte County website. Rob Robbins and Percy Angelo attended for CHPOA and spoke at the beginning of the meeting. The SMP and the Cape Haze issues were the last two agenda items.
The meeting was relatively positive for Cape Haze. Bottom line the commissioners declined to authorize the next step in Cape Haze sewer design and asked a number of questions that needed answers before proceeding. Commissioner Tiseo was very active on our behalf but so were Truex, Constance and Doherty as well. Deutsch did not speak.
Issues raised included the existence of USEPA permit requirements for sewers elsewhere in the County that should have higher priority than Cape Haze. And the testing that was promised at the last meeting has still not taken place. And several commissioners noted that Cape Haze is not as dense as other county areas where sewers are needed.
There was also alot of discussion of the problems of the types of sewer systems for use in Cape Haze. The County generally prefers vacuum sewers. They are more expensive initially but have many fewer service calls. Vacuum however was not recommended for Cape Haze. They require more intermediate stations and will be more likely to disrupt our banyans. Truex noted that our streets are so narrow that any construction will likely be difficult, sewers might have to run down the center of the road. The principal vacuum pump station would probably be put on the County owned property just north of Cape Haze on Placida Road but that is only 3′ in elevation which means that the station would have to be elevated 9′ to avoid flooding.
Low pressure sewers are a less costly alternative but the maintenance over time is outrageous (Doherty’s term). They result in many more service calls. And they do not function in power outages.
One issue Doherty raised is that Cape Haze is scheduled for repaving and Public Works wants to do it at the same time as sewers so that a decision had to be made quickly. Tiseo responded that the Board had never let Public Works dictate schedules, and Doherty agreed.
The Commissioners wanted several questions answered before proceeding. They include:
-The Cape Haze water quality testing which had been discussed at the last meeting
-Truex wants water quality testing in areas of the County which have installed sewers to see the results
-A comparison of the lps and vacuum system considerations.
-Doherty wants to know how bad the roads are (for repaving purposes)
-Truex wants a Health Department analysis of the actual age of our septics. (Up until now appraiser data had been used which is usually the date of original construction).
Importantly, three commissioner made comments suggesting that maybe the County backs off the sewer requirement. Constance said “I don’t know if this project gets done”. Tiseo said that instead of sewers it might be cheaper to replace the septic systems. Both Tiseo and Truex came to speak to us after the meeting. We thanked them for their support. And Truex said the solution might be some kind of septic upgrade.
Percy Angelo