By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Williston city officials say they won’t be able to provide sewer to a piece of East Williston property on the south side of County Road 318 because there are no city sewer facilities in that area and it’s outside the city limits.

            Ronnie Donald, the property owner, told Williston City Council members Tuesday he paid a $600 city sewer connection fee after removing a septic tank from his property only to be told there was no sewer available to him.

            Donald said he had talked to former Deputy City Manager and Utilities Director C.J. Zimoski who told him verbally he could connect city sewer to the property but never gave him anything in writing.

            Zimoski resigned from his position for undisclosed reasons.

            City Manager Jackie Gorman said city staff mistakenly took Donald’s $600 fee for a sewer connection without checking the file. The file had been flagged indicating the property wasn’t eligible for sewer.

            “They didn’t see the note in the file. We saw the note and called him right away and said there is no sewer available here. You can come and get your money back. We will have your money in an envelope,” Gorman said. “He said he wasn’t taking the money back. He got upset.”

            Gorman said the city went the extra mile and contacted the city’s engineer, Wright-Pierce, which confirmed Donald’s property could not be connected to city sewer. The city would have had to jack and bore under County Road 318 to provide Donald’s property with sewer.

            City Council President Debra Jones said she was told by staff that a new lift station would also have to be constructed at considerable expense to the city since his property isn’t in an area where city sewer is currently provided.

            Public Works Supervisor Donald Barber told council members providing sewer to Donald’s property would mean providing sewer to everyone on the south side of CR 318 in East Williston currently using septic tanks.

            “It would be a capital improvement and we would be on the hook to allow everyone on the south side of 318 (to hook to sewer). If we do it for one, we would have to do it for everyone. We have no facilities on the south side of CR 318 so that’s the conundrum we’re in,” Barber said.

            Donald said he received a septic tank removal permit from the Levy County Health Department in Bronson and a building permit from the county government. Gorman said Donald is building duplexes on his property.

            But Jones said the county doesn’t issue sewer connection permits for the city’s sewer system and Donald was never given a city permit to connect to city sewer.

            Gorman said she has nothing confirming what Donald may have been told by Zimoski. Donald repeatedly invoked Zimoski’s name, saying it was Zimoski who indicated he could connect to city sewer, but Donald said he has no way of contacting Zimoski to confirm what they discussed.

            “I got nothing in writing. Every time we came up here he would tell us to do this and do that, nothing in writing,” Donald said.

            Gorman said Donald’s property has been flagged for a long time as being ineligible for city sewer.

            “We have no proof of any conversation with C.J. We have notes going way back that sewer was not available to him (Donald),” she said.

            Gorman said Donald was given a copy of the engineering letter indicating the city can’t extend sewer to his property. She said she talked to him after Tuesday’s council meeting and he understood the situation.

            “I’m happy to help anyone I can. Good information leads to good decisions. If there is anything we could do to help I would, but there’s nothing we can do in this situation,” she said.

            Gorman has received city council approval to use Wright-Pierce to develop a master plan for building infrastructure in the city. The plan will include water, sewer, streets, and other facilities. East Williston is within the city’s utility service area, which means the city technically has the right to extend sewer to that area. The master plan will determine the schedule for extending sewer to unserved areas within the city and outside the city.

            Gorman was asked if the city would eventually extend sewer to East Williston.

            “Absolutely; for everything in our city limits; everyone out there we can connect if we can, not just utilities, its roads, stormwater, it’s everything that goes into a (computer) model to help us prioritize when we need to begin investing in our infrastructure.”

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City of Williston Regular Meeting July 20, 2021; Posted July 22, 2021