Cleaning up river is not our job, state tells county
The commission chairman will meet with officials to discuss upgrading faulty septic systems in Chassahowitza.
By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published December 3, 2005
County officials hoped state agencies would respond to last month's plea for help cleaning up the Chassahowitzka River by admitting responsibility and taking charge.
But a reply from the Department of Environmental Protection this week says figuring out a way to bring water and wastewater service to the coastal community is the county's job.
In a letter to County Commission Chairman Gary Bartell this week, DEP water resource management director Mimi Drew said the agency is willing "to help the county fulfill its environmental and public health responsibilities."
Danella Construction Corp. has said constructing a new water and sewer system for Chassahowitzka homes will cost $10.2-million. That leaves the county, which has about $4-million in state grants, $6.2-million short. To make up the difference, county staffers proposed assessments of more than $10,000 on 599 residential units in Chassahowitzka. But county commissioners agreed at a meeting last month that the proposed assessment was too high for the area's mostly low-income residents.
Drew suggested several options the county could pursue to decrease the cost, including rebidding the project, upgrading septic systems, creating a local low-income assistance program or finding additional funding systems and revenue sources.
She said the DEP's State Revolving Fund program could provide loans for improved septic systems managed by a central authority, but not to directly assist homeowners in upgrading septic tanks.
Bartell said Friday that he planned to discuss the letter further with DEP officials.
"I've read it about four times. I've had the county attorney read it and the county administrator read it," Bartell said. "And actually I'm not sure what their response was ... except that it's our problem."
On Monday, Bartell will go to Tallahassee for a meeting with state officials and state legislators including Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, and Rep. Charles Dean, R-Inverness. The group will discuss Argenziano's suggestion that the county move toward upgrading faulty septic systems in Chassahowitza with high-end, performance-based septic systems.
Bartell said he's skeptical of the idea, but willing to go to the meeting to hear more. He said he recently received estimates that indicate a performance-based septic system would cost $12,000 per household to install, more than the cost of the proposed central sewer system.
"To me it's a short-term solution to a long-term problem," he said.
The County Commission is slated to discuss the Chassahowitzka project at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Citrus County Courthouse, 110 N Apopka Ave., Inverness. In response to commissioners' concerns at the November meeting, staffers will present their analysis of several options, including low-pressure sewer systems and Department of Health-sponsored septic system upgrades. They will also present their analysis of alternatives for the water portion of the project, including rebidding or increasing the amount of labor that county crews do on the project.
The DEP letter was a response to a letter Bartell sent at the request of commissioners last month. Bartell's letter asked whether grant money originally dedicated toward sewer systems could be used to improve the septic systems. The letter also said the state agencies were legally responsible for correcting problems in Chassahowitzka.
Bartell also sent the letter to state Department of Health officials, but he said Friday that he had not received a reply from that agency.
--Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.