On Monday, October 5, the Town Council of Greenville met for a workshop session at 5 p.m. to discuss Phase II of Construction of Sewer Plant Options. After a short meeting, Town Manager Tim Day took the Council and all others who attended the meeting on a thorough tour of the sewage plant in order to see the extent of the damage, and a brief meeting covering what course of actions could be taken was conducted after the tour. The current sewage plant is described as functionally obsolete, with cracks in several tanks that could cause leakage. “I don't want a phone call one day saying we have a rupture that caused a leakage we can't repair,” said Day. Although he ensures that there is a “great staff that have managed to keep [the plant] going,” Day believes the system will not last much longer and that taking action to fund a new plant is a wise solution. The current plant was not designed in the first place to undergo repairs, as all 26 of the tanks that make up the plant are all connected. Day presented three courses of action to the Council. Option #1 would involve completing Phase I before moving on to Phase II after applying for the Community Development Block Grant (CDGB). Option #2 involves asking for legislative assistance in the next session that begins in January and runs through March; option #3 would mean attending a State of Florida Revolving Fund meeting on November 10.
The Revolving Fund would excuse 45 percent of debt on Phase II through a process called debt forgiveness. The other 55 percent will be covered by the community, but the town would receive a no-interest loan. In order to raise $13,570 annually to pay for the rest of the funding needed for a new plant, each of the 572 sewage and water users would have to pay an additional $1.50 a month on their bill, and an estimated $4,000 would be used annually out of revenue sharing. It would also cost an estimated $57,000 for engineering costs. The last rate increase was in 2012, and the rate increased by $1 a month; the extra money went into the general fund. After much discussion, the Council gave Day permission to move forward with the project and draft an ordinance for introduction that will be presented at the Town Council meeting set for Monday, October 19 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. The public is invited to attend the meeting and voice their input on the sewage plant construction. A vote for the ordinance will occur at the town meeting scheduled for Monday, November 9.
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1. Photo Submitted. The sewage plant shows visible damage, with cracks that could cause leakage.