Water rates to rise, but by how much?

Laguna Palms residents are likely to pay more for water and sewer services as officials try to keep the increase to a minimum.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 23, 2001

INVERNESS -- Laguna Palms residents breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday when the County Commission postponed voting on a proposal that would have more than doubled the community's water and sewer rates.

Some kind of increase is likely, but officials hope to reach an agreement with Florida Water Services in the next 60 days to keep the increase to a minimum.

"We want to exhaust all available alternatives," County Administrator Richard Wesch said.

The county owns the water and wastewater lines that serve Laguna Palms' 32 condominiums off Gospel Island Drive, but those lines feed into Florida Water's facilities at Point O' Woods. The county pays a bulk customer rate to Florida Water for linking to its systems, and then charges each Laguna Palms home for its share of the cost.

Florida Water told the county in September that it would raise the rates to keep up with inflation and correct a costly billing error. Since January 1999, Florida Water has charged the county for using pipes that are 4-inches in diameter, when Laguna Palms has 6-inch pipes and should have paid a much higher rate, county utilities director Lou Badami said.

If the county remains a bulk customer of Florida Water, its monthly water rate would jump from $313.74 to $631.05, and its monthly sewer rate would go from $428.67 to $864.05. After adding in its own costs for running the system, the county would divide those fees among its 33 or 34 customers.

The result: Residents would see their monthly water rates go from $8.97 to $20.87 and their monthly sewer rates rise from $12.66 to $28.67.

The county hopes to persuade Florida Water to take over the Laguna Palms lines at no cost, in exchange for waiving the residents' hook-up fees, Badami said.

Without the county in the middle as a bulk customer, the residents would pay a different rate. The base monthly fee would be $12.62 for water and $17.28 for sewer.

Wesch said Florida Water has expressed interest in taking over the Laguna Palms lines. Representing the homeowners association, attorney Clark Stillwell also applauded the idea.

Any agreement to transfer the Laguna Palms lines to Florida Water would require the approval of the County Commission, the Citrus County Water and Wastewater Authority, and possibly the Circuit Court that first awarded the lines to the county in 1997, after the developer's neglect created an environmental hazard.

In other commission news:

County scraps automatic gain time. The board changed the gain time policy at the county jail so that inmates no longer automatically receive five days off their sentence each month. As with the old policy, however, inmates may still get up to 10 days knocked off their sentence each month if they volunteer for work assignments.

Eliminating the automatic gain time gives inmates a greater incentive to volunteer for work details, but it means the county will spend an extra $176,000 a year to keep inmates in jail longer. The county has included the additional funds in its budget for this year.

Gyms open for summer. Commissioners approved an agreement with the School Board to open three gyms from June 8 to Aug. 5 for students between the ages of 13 and 17. The county will pay $8,696 for adults to supervise the recreation activities at Inverness Middle School, Lecanto High School and Crystal River High School.

The kids will organize their own games, but their parents must first register them in the program. For information, call the county's Parks and Recreation Division at 795-2202.

Citrus Springs Community Center gets green light. The board awarded a $1,776,998 contract to R.E. Graham Contracting Inc. to build the long-awaited Citrus Springs Community Center. One large building will have a multipurpose hall with a kitchen and stage, while a smaller building will include several rooms for meetings and other activities.

With permit fees, telephone wiring and a contingency fund, the overall budget for building the community center is $1,965,071, which doesn't include buying furniture.

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