Thanks Tom. I watched most of the meeting via podcast. One nugget that I found interesting in the "Council Reports" near the end of the meeting, the Mayor and City Mgr commented that they had been in Tallahassee recently (presumably talking to State officials) , their take away was that all of these mandatory utility connection mandates + new regulations to modify existing septic systems(to the tune of a residents cost of ~$10K) and mandate more elaborate requirements for new septic systems was a aggressive goal, and may extend beyond their 10 yr time horizon. On a related subject, I wrote our Legislative reps via their websites asking for them to consider some relief on these mandates (I also tweeted our St Sen on X) a few weeks ago, and have heard nothing back (I find it odd they won't engage in a election year...)
glad I wasn't the only person to notice this. Hands down one of the top issues on my mind, as I'm sure it is many. I tend to keep my eye on Sebastian and Vero Beach and I know they're also pushing back (constructively) in their own ways and Sebastian in particular I know was looking to help leverage the League of Cities on this matter.
I don't want to devolve this too much into local/regional politics, but I have also been pretty shocked at the lack of response from our local elected officials when I reached out. Debbie Mayfield.. I get it, shes on her way out so you're not going to get a lot out of her.
Randy Fine though, who is hoping to succeed her, really hasn't wanted to talk too much to this issue when I've tried. He voted Yea on this (I mean really they all did) ... soooooooooooooooooo?
So I'm clear: I support this initiative, and if sanitary sewer were available to me, I would gladly connect to it as I did city water. The bill & its timelines as-is is unworkable for Palm Bay and cities similar to ours though.
This is the single biggest issue facing Palm Bay property owners. There is no way they can meet their goal. There is not enough inventory of the aerobic systems, and there's not enough service companies that can handle the work. The City for their part does not have the capability to meet the mandates both financially, and personnel wise. And when it comes to personnel, these are some of the hardest billets to fill.
For the update on the septic to sewer mandate you can watch that segment (about 3 mins) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agx6dq79O1U&t=15363s
Thanks Tom. I watched most of the meeting via podcast. One nugget that I found interesting in the "Council Reports" near the end of the meeting, the Mayor and City Mgr commented that they had been in Tallahassee recently (presumably talking to State officials) , their take away was that all of these mandatory utility connection mandates + new regulations to modify existing septic systems(to the tune of a residents cost of ~$10K) and mandate more elaborate requirements for new septic systems was a aggressive goal, and may extend beyond their 10 yr time horizon. On a related subject, I wrote our Legislative reps via their websites asking for them to consider some relief on these mandates (I also tweeted our St Sen on X) a few weeks ago, and have heard nothing back (I find it odd they won't engage in a election year...)
Tom,
glad I wasn't the only person to notice this. Hands down one of the top issues on my mind, as I'm sure it is many. I tend to keep my eye on Sebastian and Vero Beach and I know they're also pushing back (constructively) in their own ways and Sebastian in particular I know was looking to help leverage the League of Cities on this matter.
I don't want to devolve this too much into local/regional politics, but I have also been pretty shocked at the lack of response from our local elected officials when I reached out. Debbie Mayfield.. I get it, shes on her way out so you're not going to get a lot out of her.
Randy Fine though, who is hoping to succeed her, really hasn't wanted to talk too much to this issue when I've tried. He voted Yea on this (I mean really they all did) ... soooooooooooooooooo?
So I'm clear: I support this initiative, and if sanitary sewer were available to me, I would gladly connect to it as I did city water. The bill & its timelines as-is is unworkable for Palm Bay and cities similar to ours though.
This is the single biggest issue facing Palm Bay property owners. There is no way they can meet their goal. There is not enough inventory of the aerobic systems, and there's not enough service companies that can handle the work. The City for their part does not have the capability to meet the mandates both financially, and personnel wise. And when it comes to personnel, these are some of the hardest billets to fill.