Pinellas Park must okay desal plant

By ANNE LINDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 13, 2001

PINELLAS PARK -- Although the area's largest utility may have decided Monday that building a desalination plant here is a great idea, the City Council will have the final word.

Pinellas Park owns the proposed site at 6951 102nd Ave. N, and unless council members choose to lease or sell the land to Tampa Bay Water, no plant can be built. The last time utility officials and Pinellas Park talked about it, council members said the plant would be a hard sell in the community.

The plant would pump 5-million gallons of brackish water a day to be turned into drinkable water. Because brackish water has less salt content that seawater, it is less expensive to clean.

At least one Pinellas Park council member acknowledges the need for such a plant, but he says the water needs to stay in the city. If Tampa Bay Water builds the plant, the water would be sold to one of its members. Pinellas Park is not a member of that coalition.

"If water's going to get drawn out from under our ground, I would like to see it remain here in town to be consumed by our citizens," Ed Taylor said Tuesday.

Tampa Bay Water supplies drinking water to St. Petersburg, Tampa, New Port Richey and to Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. Pinellas Park indirectly is served by the utility because the city buys its water from Pinellas County.

Most of Tampa Bay Water's supply comes from 11 facilities in Pasco and northern Hillsborough counties. By 2007, the utility will have to severely reduce the amount of water it pumps from those sources.

One way to cope is by cleaning up brackish water. After a year of studying several options around the county, Tampa Bay Water on Monday chose a location next door to the city's brush site. It's about 1,000 feet west of Cross Bayou Elementary School and 600 feet from Bon Tel Fasteners, a manufacturing company.

The site is used to stockpile city equipment and for some police and fire training. It's unclear what might remain on the site, said Scott Pinheiro, the city's engineering services director, because Tampa Bay Water doesn't need the entire property.

It's unclear when the matter will come before the council. City staff members plan to meet Thursday with Tampa Bay Water to see exactly what's planned for the site.

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