North Port works on plan to expand city sewer

NORTH PORT — When General Development Corp. established the subdivision that became the city of North Port in 1959, much of the land had already been subdivided into 80-foot by 120-foot lots.

Those lots — all platted prior to a 1972 state law that mandated new subdivisions be hooked up to central water and sewer facilities — have left a legacy of 28,322 potential residences that have a vested right to use well and septic systems instead of waiting for city water and sewer, as well as 16,332 occupied parcels that are on well and septic systems.

In contrast, there are 11,158 parcels of land on water and sewer. Many of those are in subdivisions platted after 1972, such as Heron Creek, Gran Paradiso and Island Walk.

But, if water and sewer lines are available, homes built on those 28,322 lots would connect without the extra expense of first digging wells and septic systems.

“Every year you wait, more homes get septic tanks and that impacts the problem, compounds it,” said assistant utilities director Jennifer Desrosiers of any delay in connecting areas to central utilities.

On May 6, city officials hosted their second workshop this year on developing a plan to expand water and sewer to virtually all properties within the city limits.

Lake Geraldine, which is west of the Myakka River, and North Port Estates, north of Interstate 75, would be exempt from the connections since parcels in both areas are large enough to comfortably support well and septic systems.

But overall, the city is exploring the economic possibilities of extending water and sewer lines both for those undeveloped GDC legacy lots and the existing 16,332 homes on well and septic systems.

“This is a plan in discussion: how we can mitigate our long-term impact of our city on our watershed and surrounding environment,” North Port Utilities Director Rick Newkirk said.

That plan is far from fully formed.

At the May 6 workshop, the City Commission could not take a formal vote but achieved consensus on two key items.

First, commissioners asked staff to explore the cost to expand city water and sewer to all commercial parcels along the I-75 interchanges at Sumter and Toledo Blade boulevards. Currently water and sewer lines are more than a quarter-mile away from the Sumter Boulevard commercial properties, as well as the commercial parcels north of I-75 at the Toledo Blade interchange.

Water and sewer is available on the west side of Toledo Blade Boulevard south of I-75. Water is available for the commercial properties on the east side of the interchange but a lift station is needed to expand sewer service to several properties beyond that.

Vice Mayor Debbie McDowell, while acknowledging the environmental importance of getting homes connected to city water and sewer, thought extending full water and sewer access to the commercial parcels would give the city more bang for its buck.

“It explains why a lot of our interchanges aren’t getting developed,” McDowell said. “It’s cost-prohibitive.”

“I see a need in the neighborhoods but the benefit citywide to hook up to Warm Mineral Springs and then out to the interstate interchanges, to me that serves a much larger public purpose,” she later added. “Then we can start focusing on the neighborhoods.”

The commission also asked staff to solicit proposals for a consultant to design and permit a water and sewer expansion in the neighborhood off of Madagascar Avenue — near water and sewer lines extended for Lamarque Elementary School, which opened in 2006.

That expansion could serve 135 vacant parcels as well 88 homes there.

Money for that consultant, pegged at about $750,000, would come from local sales tax revenue.

The city estimates it will have about $7.8 million to spend from the tax to subsidize costs for individual homeowners to hook up into water and sewer.

According to figures from the city’s January workshop, it costs $8,778 to hook into city water and $16,049 to hook into city sewer.

Though nothing is binding, city commissioners discussed using about $10,000 per homeowner from the sales tax revenue to subsidize the homeowner's costs, and allow them to finance the remaining sum over 30 years, interest free.

A 3 percent discount could be offered for prepayment and the cost could be reduced further by state and federal grants for sewer extension.

Currently homeowners with adequate well water near city water lines do not have to hook into city water unless they have well problems.

But if the city extends sewer lines into an area, it is required by the state to send notice to property owners that they have 365 days to hook into the system.

Board members expressed concern about that, especially for homeowners with more modern septic systems that work well.