By Terry Witt -Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Bronson Town Council members voted 4-0 Monday for a resolution that could set the stage for funding a tri-city water and wastewater cooperative, but serious questions were raised by two council members about whether the co-op would actually benefit Bronson.

            Mayor Robert Partin has been part of a working group that stitched together a proposal to form the Waccasassa Water and Wastewater Cooperative, an entity that doesn’t yet exist but needs state or federal funding to bring the organization to life.

            The resolution approved by the council doesn’t commit the town to join the cooperative once it becomes a legal entity but allows a private firm called Wetlands Solutions Inc. to file an application for funding through multiple sources at the state and federal level to fund the $104 million project.

            Wetlands Solutions has expertise in water quality issues. The company wrote a feasibility study that says it would be possible to tie Bronson, Otter Creek, and Cedar Key into a cooperative that serves all three cities with water and sewer services.

            The town council won’t be asked to commit to the project until funding is received and an interlocal agreement is reached that all three cities must sign to give the cooperative the authority to pump water from the Bronson area outside the city limits to Otter Creek and Cedar Key and sewage from Cedar Key and Otter Creek to a wastewater treatment plant, possibly located in the Bronson area. 

            Councilmen Jason Hunt and Aaron Edmondson had doubts about how the cooperative would operate and whether it would really benefit the town they represent as elected officials or whether it could be a detriment to their citizens.

            Councilwoman Sherrie Schuler was absent for the second consecutive council meeting and once again was criticized by citizen watchdog Elijah Williams for failing to show.

            “I had an issue at the last meeting with the roll call (of council members). For some reason we can’t get that squared away,” Williams said. “I really feel if you’re a councilman you should be prompt and not late all the time.”

            Partin did not call a roll of the council members, but Schuler’s seat was empty again. Partin said she apparently had another ballgame Monday. She is the Bronson Middle High School basketball athletic director as well as a teacher.

            The mayor said Schuler is an elected official just like him and he has no control over her.

            “The situation is what it is. She is an elected official like I am. I have no control over the situation,” Partin said.

            Hunt made no secret of his opposition to the water and wastewater cooperative at this point in the discussions.

            “As I read it, it looks like the cooperative is going to take over ownership of our water and we’re going to have to buy it back from them and then supply it to the citizens of the community. That doesn’t sound beneficial to anyone in town,” Hunt said.

            Partin said the town is close to maxing out the town’s ability to supply water and sewer services to Bronson.

            “We need more people on our sewer system, at least to break even,” he said. “With this, we would be able to put everyone in Bronson on the sewer system and it would be part of this money (the $104 million). We wouldn’t have to go about floating grants or money for the sewer system, for these types of improvements. That would be taken care of by this right here (the co-op).”

            Edmondson said he has doubts about how the cooperative would operate.

            “I don’t see how the cooperative is going to pump water from Bronson to Otter Creek and Cedar Key. I don’t see how that is going to help us put sewer throughout Bronson. I don’t understand,” he said.

            Partin said the cooperative would come in and take ownership of the town’s water and sewer system, but he also added that the water the town pumps from the ground belongs to the State of Florida, not to the town.

            “What we are proposing here is to take care of the future needs of Bronson. That’s my total grasp on the whole thing and how it will affect us. It’s taking care of our future needs for water and sewer.”

            Hunt pointed out that the cooperative, not the Bronson Town Council, would set future rates for water and sewer as he understands it.

            “This clearly states the co-op board will make decisions on what the water rates will be for the town,” Hunt said. “It has nothing to do with anyone on this board. At that time, we have lost the power of what we are paying to have our own water pumped out of our town.”

            Hunt added that having a member on the co-op’s board doesn’t help the city because it would always be outvoted by Cedar Key and Otter Creek. He said the study also reserves the right for the co-op to bottle water and sell it to the people of the Bronson community.

            “How is that benefiting the Town of Bronson,” he said.

            Edmondson said this type of decision should have been brought to the council much earlier. Edmondson and Hunt said they didn’t receive their copies of the study until late last week.

            Edmondson said he still questions how the cooperative will provide sewer to the entire town.

            “If the water is going to come from here through the co-op, how is that going to get us sewer? They’re going to give us enough money to put sewer in the whole Town of Bronson like you were saying from water revenues?” Edmondson said.

            Hunt said the problem with the town’s sewer system is that the town doesn’t have enough people using it. He said the town needs more businesses to generate the revenue to pay back the sewer loan.

            “This right here isn’t going to help the people in this town. When the co-op says, hey, we need to raise the water rates and sewer rates because we’re not making enough money on this. They will say, Bronson, this is what you’re going to pay, now raise your rates on your people.”

            The Levy County Commission will meet Tuesday and will consider approving a letter to the Suwannee River Water Management District in support of becoming a partner of the Waccasassa Water and Wastewater Authority in the future. The water district has been closely involved with the working group that put together the proposal for the cooperative and will be involved in securing funding for the project.

            “The wastewater project will directly benefit the communities by improving aquatic ecosystems and will protect vulnerable coastal aquaculture. The water project will provide a high-quality, safe, and reliable water source to the residents of Levy County currently served by vulnerable water systems or with the potential for health and safety issues due to poor source water quality and flooding,” the letter states.

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting December 5, 2022; Posted December 5, 2022