LET’S TALK ABOUT TRANSPARENCY AND GETTING THE FACTS STRAIGHT!
Hello, fellow Sewall’s Point residents!
If you live in South Sewall’s Point, this issue affects $14,000-$18,000 of your money.
The town commission majority, composed of Mayor John Tompeck and commissioners
Frank Fender and Kaija Mayfield, are pro-sewer. The majority of south Sewall’s Point residents have either asked for the cost of installation figures, not responded to the TSP survey or opposed the installation.
The 3 commissioners’ agenda is sewers. It starts with the official town narrative: the Indian River Lagoon is impaired here and converting the entire town to sewers is necessary to save it.
Fact Check: FDEP data and the Florida Oceanographic Society reports show that the South Indian River Lagoon adjacent to our town is clean. Impairment runs northward of the Fort Pierce inlet (the north and central lagoons). Here in the south lagoon, there is no impairment. Environmental advocacy groups mail large postcards showing images of dirty water, but they were taken in Indian River and Brevard counties, not here.
North Sewall’s Point, a county road that already had some sewer infrastructure, was provided with grinder sewers in 2020, the connection rate is 40-45%. South Sewall’s Point residents were led to believe that they could vote on the project once a cost study was done. Mayor Tompeck said at the 1/28/22 town meeting: “you can’t vote on it unless you know how much it’s going to cost” as usual, Captec engineering was given the job, which was then subcontracted out to Giffels Webster, an engineering firm located in Englewood, Florida.
After the GWE study was received in late July 2022, residents were not allowed to see it. Mayor Tompeck said it was “long and complicated. Our town engineer will work to make it understandable.” Residents making public records requests were told: “The report is not in yet.” Meanwhile, the town immediately began applying for grants. Mayor Tompeck claimed “FDEP just wants to get some ideas about projects we might want to do in the future. There’s no obligation.“ on 11/8/22 Captec released a 43-page report with 4 options for conversion. https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1689144/TOSP_South_S2S_Residential_Area_Report_11.7.2022_draft__7_.pdf
All requests to see the GWE report were now met with : “the Captec Report is the only one we have.” At the 12/13/22 town meeting: Commissioners Tompeck, Mayfield and Fender all voted “NO” to allow residents to vote on a non-binding referendum on the project.
Soon, 340 homes on the east side of town and several interior streets will be able to install a grinder and connect to a sewer line. If they choose to wait, and their septic system fails, they will be mandated to connect.
Now the town’s attention is focused on the remaining 366 homes west of River Road, in High Point, and on the interior streets not served by the grinder system.
Our commission has not been transparent with residents about their plans for this area. They appear to be following Option 2 in the Captec Engineering Report, which calls for gravity sewers for all 366 homes, but they will not confirm this. The report states that Option 2 which will install a gravity sewer system will carry a mandate to connect and will require a special assessment. It will also require tearing up the roads for installation. Our town commission has repeatedly insisted that they will not mandate anything nor approve a special assessment.
On 18 June 2024, the commission approved hiring two grant writing firms and provided them with a combined budget of $578,000 over five years. At $12,000 each, that will pay for 48 grant applications, whether or not a grant is awarded. The justification is that if a grant is awarded, the town will be reimbursed from the grant for the cost of the application.
Prior to 2020, projects were far more transparent. The commission discussed grant applications publicly at town meetings before they were approved and submitted. However, at the 3/12/24 town meeting, the town manager, Mr. Robert Daniels, requested permission to submit grant applications without any commission approval (or public awareness), to avoid having special meetings when deadlines were tight. if a grant application resulted in funding, it would then be approved after the fact. The commission agreed.
At the July 16, 2024 town meeting, Mr. Daniels stated that the town had submitted 4 grant applications to the FDEP water quality improvement program in the late afternoon of the previous day-minutes before the deadline. He then stated that shortly after they submitted the 4 grants, the deadline was extended by 2 weeks. but the applications were not on the agenda for that evening’s meeting, because “I did not want to throw everything out at you at once… because I thought it would be a time sensitive issue even with the date of the 30th being the new filing deadline.”
Mr. Daniels then promised to provide copies when the agenda was prepared for the 8/13/24 town meeting (four weeks later).
(Fact Check: FDEP issued two notifications about extending the deadline: the first on 7/11/24, and the second on 7/15. it is highly unlikely that neither the grant writer nor the town received the deadline extension issued on 7/11.)
A resident who made a public records request for copies of the 4 grant applications was told “Once we have received the correct documents, I will forward them to you.”
(Fact Check: grant applications are submitted to FDEP via a portal, which allows applicants to print copies easily. )
This stonewalling and disinformation are the latest in a long string of instances when the town has failed to reply transparently to residents’ public records requests for information about the septic to sewer project. Residents have been given replies about unrelated projects, assertions that data to support grant application claims was “not available,” deflections to other government agencies e.g., “contact the health department” and other ways to circumvent transparency.
The most egregious example concerns the Giffels-Webster report, which cost the town’s residents $75,000. The town and its attorney completely denied its existence.
(Fact Check: paid invoices, a conversation with a Giffels-Webster employee and other evidence all confirms that GWE submitted a 300+ page report to the town in the last week of July 2022.)
An enterprising resident obtained copies of all 4 recent grant applications via creative but perfectly legal means.
(Fact Check: The applications show that the town submitted one application on 7/9 and three applications on 7/11/24, not at the last minute on 7/15/24 as Mr. Daniels had claimed at the 7/16/24 commission meeting.)
Clearly, there was plenty of time for commissioners to review them prior to the 7/16 town meeting.
The grant application, Sewall’s Point Septic Tank Elimination – Phase 2, for $10,000,000 states that the “connection fee” is $12,000 per home. (residents have only been given a range of $8000-$12000 in the Captec report).
“Connection” means paying $12,000 to Martin County Utilities for the right to have a sewer connection.
The actual physical connection, running a line from the property to the connection box on the main sewer line in the street, requires a homeowner to hire a plumber. A conversation with a local plumber indicated that the costs could vary from $2,000-$6,000. The cost variation is driven by the plumber’s rates and distance from the line, but a recent connection quote in North Sewall’s Point was for $6000. After connecting, a resident’s monthly bill from Martin County Utilities at least doubles. A $40 monthly water bill increases by the following amounts: the Minimum Monthly Bill for sewer is $20.22 plus $4.94 for 0-10,000 gallons of water usage plus a Service Availability Charge of $16.03 for a total of $41.19 as of June 1, 2024. Rates were increased by 2.5% from 2023.
The town’s grant application contains blatant disinformation:
- What is the current level of buy-in or approval from neighborhood for sewer connections?
Currently, the Town has been experiencing a 45-50% hook-up rate to tie into sanitary sewer.
(Fact Check: North Sewall’s Point had sewer lines installed in 2020, at which time there were 295 residences of which only 24 or 8.14% of the homes connected in the first two years in which sewers became available. The Castle Hill neighborhood had sewer lines installed when the area was developed. All of the 56 Castle Hill parcels connected as a group, which accounted for another 19% of the connections. Factoring new construction, which is mandated to connect to an existing sewer line because they will not be issued a permit for a septic system, the connection rate is approximately 7-8% of residences per year)
- Please describe. Include key messages and target audience.
The Town staff has used their website and direct mail/email to inform residents of all updates, gather interest in the proposed sanitary service and communicate any changes in the project schedule. According to a survey of mailings, the majority of Town residents plan to connect within the first three years.
(Fact Check: 62% of the residents did not even return their “survey.” )
(Fact Check: the “Survey” only asked when a resident wanted to connect. It lacked a “no” option. )
(Fact Check: the town counted “TBD” as a “yes” vote.)
(Fact Check: the town counted multiple checkmarks on a single “Survey” as multiple votes.)
This “ballot” made the recent Venezuelan voting look honest.
- What other incentives are offered for hooking up to sewer, if any?
The Town residents will be paying for their home’s connection to the sewer lines in the Town’s ROW. Martin County Sewer has determined the fee of $12,000 to connect to the County’s sewer.
(Fact Check: The Captec Report estimated an $8,00-$12,000 connection charge)
- Will connections be required?
No
The application states that the town will not require connections, however, the interlocal agreement signed with Martin County Utilities cedes ownership of the sewer lines to Martin County Utilities (MCU) who can mandate connection, which they have not done to date, but how long can they or will they ignore Florida law.
(Fact Check: Residents have incomplete information. No mention is made that MC utilities owns the system once completed and according to Fla. Stat. s. 381.00655 the requirement is, that once a homeowner is notified of the availability of the service, connection is mandatory within one year, also, the FDEP water quality improvement grants all mandate connections as a condition of the grant. Since this will be done by MCU and the State of Florida, this gives the town commissioners plausible deniability.)
- Please provide details (e.g., links to information on technology or methodology, etc.).
Construction will be accurate directional drilling for gravity sewers. The community will have less roadway/driveway repairs and therefore less cost for the sanitary sewer lines to replace septic tanks.
The application states that directional drilling would be used to install the gravity sewers. the 11/8/22 Captec report had stated that installing gravity sewers would require tearing up the roads.
(Fact Check: Directional Drilling was first developed in the 1930’s in the oil and gas industry and has been used to construct gravity sewer lines since 2005. Technique and equipment have evolved to the point where this should have been considered in the Captec report of November 2022. Why two years later was this less costly option proposed? What is other loss costly options to the homeowners of Sewall’s Point.)
There Previous grant applications had similar irregularities. when a resident asked the town’s Mayor to correct them, he was told that correcting them would make the town look bad, and it was not done.
On or about 7/24, a resident asked Mr. Daniels how the town planned to supply the $5,000,000 matching funds required by the $10,000,000 septic to sewer grant application. Mr. Daniels replied that a portion of the South Sewall’s Point road S2S project had cost less than anticipated, and those extra funds would be used as the match.
In summary, the TSP commission has not been forthright on the facts. On the positive side, it appears that if TSP is successful in securing the Sewall’s Point Septic Tank Elimination – Phase 2, for $10,000,000 grant, residents will not be assessed. On the negative side, residents will have to come out of pocket $14,000-$18,000 for the privilege of being mandated to connect to the system.
The Myth of Sewers
THE MYTH (AND TRUE COST TO HOMEOWNERS) OF SEWAGE TREATMENT FACILITIES. ( BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE LINKS AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE TO SEE JUST A FRACTION OF SEWAGE SPILLS)
(This is an article from 2017 so the prices shown are out of date, but the information is as true today as it was then. The author and his background are listed at the end of the article.)
Fueled by the internet and personal computers, America experienced one of the highest economic growth periods in history from 1990 to 2005, and with that growth came development. Farmland, fields and forests were being purchased around the country at record rates in order to build new homes and businesses. Of course, most of these areas were beyond the range of existing sewage treatment facilities, and, rather than wait for sewage plants to be built, most were built with septic systems.
Unfortunately, some areas of the country were—and still are—operating on old, outdated septic regulations and requirements (and many believe septic systems are inferior and temporary); coupled with the rapid building pace, many of the systems originally built were doomed to fail. Now, there are entire developments with failing systems, and the homeowners are pushing hard to get a treatment plant built. Citizens, however, need to think very carefully before going with this solution. Today’s septic systems are one of the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions available, but the general public is being kept in the dark on this because the profits are far greater with the big-pipe.
Most think sewer plants are constructed to protect the public’s health/environment. At one time, this was true; however, now treatment facilities have turned into a multibillion-dollar-a-year business, often driven by greed, not need. Engineering firms profit in the millions to design and build these facilities, developers get rights to build more (and bigger) homes in an area, and the government bodies gain more tax dollars and revenue from those monthly fees.
And these projects are sold to the public by using a simple business tactic: discredit the competition. People are told septic systems are pollution hazards, extremely expensive, and only last a few years. At the same time, they portray their product as a cost-effective, modern marvel that will solve everyone’s problems. By the time they are done, only a fool would want to stay with a septic system.
This information, however, is either wildly exaggerated or an out-right lie. Septic systems are no longer the cesspools of the early 1900s; today’s systems will treat wastewater better than a treatment facility, and, if you use and maintain them properly, will last indefinitely. They are not expensive, either— a standard, gravity-fed system will typically run $4,000 to $6,000. If you are in an environmentally sensitive area, like next to a body of water, they will range from $6,000 to $15,000, and that is if you even need a special system. A fair number of the systems in use already meet the state requirements.
On the other hand, treatment facilities cost far more than you are led to believe. Your assessment fee (the number that everybody hears) may be $10,000, but that is just the cost to run the pipe past your house…it does not include the cost to build that plant and run those mains out to your neighborhood. Factoring in those costs, you could be looking at thirty to sixty thousand dollars.
If the cost of that plant isn’t enough to shock you, maybe what happens after the plant is built will. Developers come in and build upscale homes that drive-up everyone’s property values, and with the increase in population come more tax increases to expand police, fire, schools, etc. Eventually, many are forced to move because they can no longer afford the property taxes.
As for pollution…it actually gets worse. The damages to our shore and coastlines have gone up almost 600% in the last fifteen years where these plants were built because they reduce, not eliminate, contaminates in wastewater. These mechanized facilities also experience a fair number of breakdowns; every year, billions of gallons of raw sewage are dumped into our waterways because of overloading, pump failures, pipe breaks, etc.
But it is the third issue that everyone should examine closely: we are running out of water. Every day, cities and suburbs draw billions of gallons of water from local aquifers (temporarily stored in water towers and reservoirs), where it is sent to the homes and businesses. This contaminated water is then sent to a treatment facility; however, rather than returning it to the aquifers where it came from, it is discharged to a river that leads to the ocean.
Today, America sends over two trillion gallons of water out to the oceans every week—after sixty years of this practice, our underground water supplies are dropping to critical levels.
Thirty-five states are already projected to face severe shortages within in five years, and, unless we begin making the right choices on how to deal with our water (by starting looking at the future effects), we could be facing a major catastrophe.
Three states few would think at risk:
- Minnesota—The Land of 10,000 Lakes. Having a great deal of surface water is one thing, but groundwater is another story. There are suburbs in the twin cities metro area that are now forced to “buy” water from outlaying communities because they are using their own local supplies faster than they can recharge. Some cities have been forced to start drawing water from nearby rivers to augment their groundwater supplies.
- Colorado—Even with their snow-covered mountains, this state is at risk; Colorado’s water supply is limited by fluctuating precipitation levels, and drought cycles are a common characteristic of this semi-arid climate (they have not yet fully recovered from the drought of 2002). The Colorado River is also a major supplier of water to Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
- Florida—It wasn’t that long ago Florida had too much water; but today, in the southern portion of the state, groundwater has been pumped out in such massive amounts (faster than rain has replenished it) that the water tables have dropped below sea level, which allows salt water to intrude into the fresh-water supplies. As a result, thousands of domestic and municipal wells have been contaminated and rendered permanently unusable. Also, the state’s ground-water supplies are fairly shallow and help support the surface soils; when you remove it faster than it can recharge, voids are created, which cause sink holes…as was demonstrated this winter throughout central Florida, with numerous sink holes that took down homes and even major highways.
Septic systems, when properly designed and maintained, are, in many cases, the best option because they will be far cheaper and do a better job of preventing pollution and help to recharge your local water supplies. So why would someone in a position of voting for these projects ignore these advantages? There are two reasons:
First, in many cases they have fallen for the “septic-systems-are-bad-for-the-environment” line from the people profiting from the treatment plants. I have met with some of these community leaders who were adamantly against septic systems until they learned the whole story. Naturally, they were shocked to learn the truth and wondered why they didn’t get all the facts.
I told them to look at it like any salesman would: if you walk into a Ford dealership, are they going to send you across the street to buy a Chevy? No, they are going to sell what they have on their lot—a Ford. And, if you even hint that you are considering another brand, they will rattle off a laundry list of why you shouldn’t buy that competing brand.
But they second reason is even more disreputable—they can be in on it. Dig deep enough, and you will find local officials that were “rewarded” (by engineering firms and developers) for pushing these projects through—rewards like consulting fees, Caribbean cruises, etc. Some have even gotten in on the “game” by purchasing raw land, voting in a treatment plant, and then selling it off at a tremendous profit.
In one West Coast community, regulatory people drew more than seventy million dollars out of the state funds for administrative fees to push their project through before starting construction. In the process, this “agency” has attempted to discredit anyone who opposed them (including environmental experts from universities). Now, they are threatening $5,000 daily fines for homeowners who refuse to get on board with them, and one source tells me about twenty-five percent of the community has been forced to move because they can no longer afford the increase in property taxes stemming from this project.
The reason they have pushed so hard is now coming to light: people within this agency bought undeveloped property in choice locations with plans to build upscale mansions; they know that they will get more for those palaces with a sewer plant hook-up than they would with a septic system.
Although citizens can fight these publicly funded projects, very seldom do people get the full story. As a result, in most cases, they go through with a minimal amount of public opposition. By banding together and working as a group, these “plants-for-profit” projects can be shut down.
However, the public should know that they need to act right away, because in many cases, the meter is running. In one small community, a “consultant” came into town and convinced the city council a treatment facility was needed. They agreed and brought in an engineering firm to give them a plan and a bid.
Several property owners, however, realized the need for this project was questionable, and after four years, they succeeded in shutting it down. Done deal, right? Wrong.
The engineering firm was on the clock from the first phone call; total amount paid by the taxpayers was 3.4 million dollars, and the firm never even turned a shovel (the majority of that bill was accrued in the last twelve months when they realized they were going to lose the job). Now, the people are trying to get that cash back, but it means they have to hire attorneys and auditors out of their own pockets.
Keep in mind, public indifference and ignorance has allowed this practice to continue for decades; many of these deals are finalized over power lunches among a few people in key positions, and they have learned how to play the system and bureaucracy to their advantage.
If your community is facing one of these projects, you need to get involved and learn what your options are. Call your local septic contractors to get their opinions and learn what your best choices are; do not allow your community to get signed into a plan that will not only deplete your wallets but your water supplies as well—all because a handful of people sold out your future for short-term profits.
If you thought that $4 a gallon for gas was bad, wait until you start paying $10 to take a shower.
Jim vonMeier performs educational programs directed at homeowners, teaching them about the health and environmental needs for proper septic systems and how to find a certified septic professional to inspect/design/install/maintain their systems. He has also represented homeowners in their fights against public sewer projects, and he speaks at contractor certification courses around the country on the subject of customer service. Copyright ©2017 North Georgia Environmental Services
Here is a shocking article from 2020: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/10/florida-sewage-spill-waterways-infrastructure
Here is another article about the sewer crisis in Florida, its from 2019: https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/sewers/home/site/theledger.com?rssfeed=true
The FDEP data in this article shows that about 865,000 gallons of wastewater spilled between 2009-2018 in martin county
one event was 100 gallons of raw sewage spilled here in SP on 10/4/13! (8th row down): https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/sewers/data/