By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Bronson’s aging municipal water wells aren’t pumping enough water in some areas of the town to provide sufficient pressure for fighting fires.

            And there isn’t enough water pressure flowing from the city water tower to feed the town’s future firehouse next door to the agriculture center.

            The bad news was delivered Monday night by Public Works Director Curtis Stacy and Fire Chief Dennis Russell.

            Mayor Beatrice Roberts instructed Stacy to get prices on rebuilding the two main pumps that feed water to the town’s water tower.

            Stacy said he invited a representative from the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc. to assess the problem. He will ask SERCAP to give him estimates on the cost of well upgrades.

            “Get a price to see what it costs to rebuild both but in the meantime, you probably need to be talking to an engineer,” Roberts said.

            Russell said he talked to an engineer Monday about what it would take to correct the problem.

            “The problem is the water pressure in some areas of the city and even going to B.K. Cypress is 370 gallons a minute. It should maintain 500 gallons a minute. A couple of years ago we had 500 gallons a minute,” Russell said. “It has to maintain 500 gallons a minute for fighting fires, but it will last only about 30 seconds now before the pressure starts dropping.”

            Russell said the two water wells that supply the water tower aren’t pumping enough water for the tower to deliver good water pressure throughout the town.

            “If one goes down we won’t have enough volume to service the community,” Stacy said.

            One Bronson resident noted that the water pressure is barely adequate now and pressed for quick action to remedy the situation.

            Stacy said he wasn’t alleging anyone in the past did anything wrong when the water wells were installed. He said whoever installed the wells provided enough water for the town at that time.

            One well was built in 1987, the other in 1993.

            In the intervening years, Bronson Elementary School and Bronson Middle High School were constructed, the county jail and sheriff’s office were constructed and more housing was added to the town.

            A new retail complex is being constructed at the corner of State Road 24 and U.S. 27A. Family Dollar Tree is continuing to look for a good location to build a store in Bronson.

            Thumbs Down on Family Dollar Location

            County road department officials have ruled out giving Family Dollar Tree a driveway permit on Court Street at the front entrance to the Levy County Courthouse, which essentially killed the store project at that location. Family Dollar Tree needed driveways on Court Street and Picnic Street to make the project work.

            Town Manager Sue Beaudet said the county owns Picnic Street and Court Street, the two streets that border the property. With both streets belonging to the county, and the county unwilling to provide all the necessary driveway permits for the store, she said Family Dollar officials are looking for an alternate site in Bronson.

            “We’re out of it,” Beaudet said.

            The town council rezoned the former Buren Brice property to commercial for the Family Dollar Tree and gave the company a variance to build the store with fewer parking spaces than is required by the city’s zoning ordinance. The project, though unpopular in the community, looked like it was headed for construction when county officials met with the town and Family Dollar Tree officials and said a driveway permit wouldn’t be issued on Court Street.

            The Levy County Historical Society has filed suit against the city to stop the project from ever having life again. President Toni Collins said she has nothing in writing that the project has been stopped at the corner of Picnic and Court and the lawsuit is making sure the historical property isn’t developed into a Family Dollar Tree.

            She said community members are talking about gathering donations to buy the property for a tea house.

            Meanwhile, the property has been rezoned commercial and could still be developed commercially, if not by Family Dollar Tree, then by another company.

            Collins said the home was constructed in 1919.

            One family member put another date on it – 1911.

            Either way, the house is historic and many in the community believe it should be preserved.

            The Levy County Courthouse, which stands in front of the Brice home, wasn’t built until 1937.

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting June 7, 2021; Posted June 7, 2021