Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
City officials are soon scheduled to hold a daytime workshop to discuss the findings of a preliminary engineering report that was recently presented to them on the feasibility of extending a sewer line to the Waukeenah area.
The workshop – scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 31, at City Hall – will focus on the 35-page report that Dewberry Engineers Inc. produced, based on a study that Fred Beshears, of Simpsons Nursery, financed.
Not to be confused with the Lloyd sewer extension project, this sewer extension project proposes to extend city sewer service to the
Trulieve medical marijuana facility on U.S. 27, near the small community of Waukeenah.
On Tuesday evening, May 3, Beshears provided the council members with copies of the engineering report, as well as giving them a brief summary of the report’s more salient aspects.
The gist of the report, contained in the executive summary, explained the purpose of the study to be the evaluation of sewer infrastructure alternatives to determine the best way to provide wastewater services to the Waukeenah area, and in the process, create jobs and spur economic development.
Another of the project’s benefits, according to the report, would be the phasing out of septic tanks in the target area, thus protecting the Wacissa River by decreasing and preventing nutrients from entering the river and degrading the water quality.
Or as the report states, the infrastructure expansion will not only support the anticipated growth of the Trulieve facility, but it will also reduce the public health barriers to continued economic growth near the sanitary sewer line.
The Trulieve facility presently employs 300, and expectations are that it will add another 200 jobs in the future. Projections also are that the county’s population may increase by as much as 2,800 residents in the next 20 years, bringing it to 18,600 residents at the high end. As of 2020, the county’s population was 14,510, according to the report.
The estimated total cost of the extension line via the preferred route is put at $4,830,000, including construction of the sewer collection system, administration, permitting, engineering, loan services fees and other technical service costs.
The report notes the existence of several wetland areas near to both alternative pipeline routes, but it poses that neither is expected to cause long-term negative impacts to the wetlands or the general environment.
The engineering assessment analyzed three alternatives for what it calls the Waukeenah Trulieve expansion project.
The first alternative entails upgrading the city’s lift station on U.S. 19, constructing a master lift station at the Trulieve facility with a master flow meter, and connecting the two stations with a six-inch pipeline. The line would travel east on U.S. 27 to U.S. 19 and then north to the city’s lift station on Nash Road.
The second alternative also entails upgrading the city’s lift station on U.S. 19 and constructing a master lift station at the Trulieve facility. The difference is that this line would run west on U.S. 27 to the Waukeenah Highway, then head north to Nash Road and east to the city’s lift station.
The second alternative would also be costlier – $5,680,000, versus the $4,830,000 for the first.
Alternative three, the no-action option, is self-explanatory and would entail no cost.
The report argues that completing either alternatives one or two would protect the Wacissa Springs Group, which consists of the 12 springs that form the headwaters of the Wacissa River. The no action alternative, by comparison, could lead to increased septic tank discharges in the area and undermine the efforts to protect the springs, according to the report.
The sewer extension, the report states, “should not have significant adverse effect on Wild and Scenic Rivers, threatened or endangered plant or animal species, prime agricultural lands, wetlands, undisturbed natural areas, or the socio-economic character of the area.” Nor will it have any negative impacts on the archaeological, historical or cultural sites recorded in the area, the report states.
It posits that no land acquisitions will be required for alternatives one or two, as both routes follow publicly owned rights-of-way. The costs, it argues, will come from the construction of the Trulieve lift station and force main and the upgrade of the city’s pumping station.
It puts the annual operational and maintenance costs for alternative one at $60,197.44, and for alternative two at $68,958.15.
The report recommends alternative one as the best choice, based on its lower cost, its lesser temporary impact on the wetlands and its shorter distance, as well as the lower public disruption and safety issues that it will cause during construction.
The report projects a two-year timeframe for completion of the alternative one route, including design, specifications bidding, contract award, mobilization and construction.