Editor, The News: On March 15 the Wakulla Board of County Commissioners will consider an agreement with Talquin Electric Cooperative to shut-down the Oyster Bay sewage treatment plant.
As many know, the Wakulla County Beach at Shell Point has had swimming warnings for several years.
From discussions with the people who do the water testing, I have been told that during dry periods they find avian fecal material in the water and during wet periods they find human fecal material.
Studies by the University of South Florida on our coast attribute the human fecal material to overflowing or leaking septic systems. This occurs all along the Wakulla County coast and all the way to Sopchoppy.
In addition, during wet periods, many residents have noticed a green algae growing along Cutoff Road.
While there is no proof this is caused by leaking from the Talquin sewage plant, all parties, including Talquin, have agreed that this plant needs to be shut down.
Negotiations with Talquin on this issue started when Joe Blanchard was acting county administrator in 2006. There have been many individuals involved with these negotiations during this time including the Wakulla County Infrastructure Committee, Eutaw Utilities as a consultant to the county, and various other county staff including most recently Commissioner Mike Stewart.
At an Infrastructure Committee meeting this past Wednesday, Commissioner Stewart provided us with a copy of the negotiated agreement that he will present for approval to the BOCC.
This proposed agreement achieves a major milestone in that Talquin has agreed to close the treatment plant. This is a very good first step.
However, this is only part of the problem with our water quality along the coast.
The major problems remaining are that Talquin has not agreed to extend the sewer system to Live Oak Island unless Wakulla County applies and receives grant funds to pay for this. In addition, Talquin will not mandate that existing Talquin water customers, who may also have sewer lines to their residences, connect to the sewer. They will only connect those customers who request the connections.
Florida statute 381.00655 mandates that residences must be connected within one year of notification of the availability of sewer service to their residence.
Wakulla County currently offers installment loans, at low interest, to customers for connection fees. Recently, the BOCC approved a discount connection plan for those individuals who would connect earlier than the end of the year of notification. For example, if connected within the first three months the fee would only be 25% of the normal connection fee. This is a major reduction for residents.
The proposed Talquin agreement does not require Talquin to offer these same types of programs.
As a matter of fact, Talquin insists that they reserve the right to charge whatever fees they wish.
While the current County connection fee is $3,850, Talquin as part of this agreement, being a wholesale customer of the County, will only have to pay to the County 65% of the existing rate. This means Talquin will only pay $2,500 for each new connection. Talquin can then charge whatever fee they want and pocket the rest.
In summary, closing the Cutoff Road sewage treatment plant is a very good start at trying to clean up our beaches and improve the water quality of our coastline.
I would however, recommend that the BOCC table the vote on this agreement, conduct a two-hour workshop to hear from all citizens and only then continue negotiations with Talquin and insist on the following:
• Require Talquin not charge more than the county charges for connection and usage fees to the county system.
• Require Talquin to offer installment loan program even if Wakulla County must finance the loans.
• Require Talquin to offer discount connections fees that the county has approved. Talquin would likewise pay the county a reduced fee for these connections.
• Require Talquin to expand, at no cost to residents, their sewer lines within their service area – excluding Live Oak Island, which is not currently part of their service area.
• Require Talquin to furnish the county a list of residents who are water customers and have sewer lines available at their property but who are not currently connected to the sewer system. The county would then be able to require these residents to connect to the sewer system. (In the past, Talquin has refused to furnish this information to the county.)
If the above points are included in a revised agreement with Talquin, I feel Wakulla County will come a long way toward cleaning up our beaches and restoring our water quality.
I urge each of us to personally contact county commissioners, County Administrator Ben Pingree, and local media requesting these improvements be made.
In addition I hope to see many citizens in red attending the March 15 county commission meeting to address this issue.
After all, we are the ones who always complain about the poor water quality at our beaches. Here is our chance to make a difference.
