By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            A $14 million state grant application for extension of the Bronson central sewer system into unserved areas and removal of 163 septic tanks has been submitted to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

            Town Manager Susan Beaudet said the town hasn’t received any word from the state on whether the money will be awarded to the city but she remains hopeful.

            The grant would extend the central sewer system to unsewered areas and expand the system to about 400 central sewer customers as well as remove the bulk of the town’s septic tanks.

            Money from the grant would pay for 26,000 linear feet of gravity sewer, 34,000 feet of force main, 13 submersible duplex/grinder pump stations, sanitary manholes, service connections, septic tank abatement, and roadway restoration.

            A largely invisible but important benefit would be to reduce the amount of nitrate pollution released into the aquifer from septic tanks, which is part of an initiative being advocated by Gov. Ron DeSantis to protect the state’s environment.

            Bronson sits atop a rich vein of water that feeds nearby Blue Springs County Park and is part of the same watershed that extends south to Chunky Pond and Devils Hammock Wildlife Management Area, and north to the expansive Waccasassa Flats wetlands.

            The town believes shielding these pristine, water-rich areas from septic tank nitrate pollution is a worthy endeavor and fits well with the governor’s initiative to protect the state’s springs and watersheds from contamination.

            Bronson Town Council members are also raising sewer and water rates as part of their overall effort to take better control over the financial health of those utility systems.

            At a March 6 Bronson Town Council meeting, the board raised sewer rates by 25 percent. The 25 percent increase will take effect on May 1 of this year and a second 25 percent sewer rate increase will go into effect on May 1, 2024.

            The council also raised water rates by 5 percent. Those rates won’t be added to water bills until Oct. 1 this year.

            Council members struggled with the idea of raising sewer rates by 50 percent over the next two years, but they were also made aware by staff that the city was losing money on its sewer system, and to a lesser extent on its water system, and has no utility reserve funds in the bank.

            “In addition, there are not enough residents on sewer. Approximately one-third of the town is on sewer and the other two-thirds remain on septic,” according to the minutes of the March 6 public hearing on rate increases.

            The expanded sewer system won’t include Dollar General Market on the south end of town or the Levy County Jail on the north end. Dollar General isn’t close enough to sewer lines to connect at this point.  As for the jail not being on the town’s sewer system, Mayor Robert Partin said he is working on that issue.

            “Some time ago there was a misunderstanding with the billing. Something had to be fixed and the county was upset about the amount of the resulting bill,” the March 6 minutes said.

             The town is also attempting to deal with another sewer issue regarding Aloma Estates, a future subdivision on Main Street. The owners of the new subdivision say they don’t want to foot the entire bill for connecting the new homes to sewer. There is currently no sewer force main on Main Street where the subdivision will be developed.

            Beaudet said she made it clear to the developers, JBPro before the project was approved that they would be responsible for connecting the subdivision to central sewer. Discussions are in progress.

            The $14 million sewer grant is mainly to extend sewer to existing residents in Bronson.

“If the town does not receive the $14M grant to connect the remaining residents to sewer, Main Street should be the last to be considered because the houses are new,” the March 6 minutes said.

            The town would be able to connect as many as 70 new homes to sewer when the subdivision is built, but the question of who provides the sewer remains unanswered.

            “Since none of the discussions with JBPro were solidified in writing, a suggestion was made to do so in the future. However, it may be to the town’s advantage that nothing is in writing because we could still force the issue in the future,” according to the March 6 minutes written by Clerk Wendy Maragh and approved by the council.

            One other reason for the increased sewer rates is the money the town borrowed when it expanded its sewer system to the business district in downtown Bronson. The annual payment comes out of sewer revenues and there aren’t enough sewer customers in Bronson for the city to comfortably make the annual loan payment and save money in reserves.

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting March 6, 2023; Posted March 29, 2023