More sewer needs are coming

Ormond Beach Observer
Opinion

Rebuttal to article in Sept. 26 issue, page three

Dear Editor:

The City Manager is not qualified in experience or education to discuss sewer plant operations. That is why we have a public works director and sewage plant operations manager. Current treatment is 4.5 -5.2 mg/day.

The published Florida DEP rating for Ormond Beach is 6 mg/d not 8mg/d.

https://floridadep.gov/water/domestic-wastewater/content/wastewater-facility-information

• Domestic Wastewater Facilities

Only New Smyrna in Volusia County is shown as having current extra treatment capacity available, according to Florida DEP.

Plantation Oaks has just been annexed with a potential of 1,577 manufactured houses to add to the existing plant. Pineland Subdivision will be selling soon with 192 homes and the remaining Ormond Crossings area the city says will be developed.

And this week 990 acres located south of West Granada Boulevard across from the Hunter’s Ridge development, an amendment seeks to increase residential units from 2,539 to 7,500 or an increase of 4,961 units.

Other future need will obviously be to the west, so why not build a plant on North Peninsula to handle the North Peninsula?

Notice that North Peninsula Utilities has never been mentioned or consulted even though they have operated sewer systems on Peninsula for years? There are several suitable sites for a plant seaside. It costs a lot of money to pump sewage across the Halifax River; FP&L is already the City’s 3rd largest vendor, $2,440,000 in 2018.

The residents of Ormond Beach were never consulted or given any input on this waste of our money —

the whole fiasco rests on Mayor Partington “he’d had a change of heart” at CIP workshop, June 4, 2019.

The City Commission can at any time reverse or change the Comprehensive Plan if they “change their mind” on annexation or anything else.

Spend money on testing and determining facts. Involve all players concerning financing and overall solution, not just a small piece going nowhere and will be shelved.

Michael Young

Ormond Beach