Water Projects Funded For ECUA, Jay; No Money For Century, Cottage Hill, Molino, Gonzalez

February 15, 2014

The Northwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board has approved nearly $10 million in grant funding to  be used for water supply project across Northwest Florida, including three major projects for ECUA, Jay and Chumuckla.

The board also rejected millions in proposals from various water systems, including Century, Cottage Hill, ECUA, Gonzalez, Molino and Jay.

Approved projects in the North Escambia are included:

ECUA Cantonment Central Water Reclamation Facility Reclaimed Water System Expansion — $522,000 in grant funding to the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) for planning, design and construction of a major reuse extension from the Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment to the University of West Florida’s main campus and Scenic Hills Golf Course.

Town of Jay Asbestos Water Main Replacement – $663,024 in grant funding to the Town of Jay to replace approximately 10,200 linear feet of asbestos-concrete water line, reducing water loss and protecting public and environmental health.

Chumuckla Water System Upgrades – $100,721 to Chumuckla Water System, Inc., to provide improvements to the current system, including upgrades to the well motor controls and computerized control and data system. It will also be used to acquire an excavator, trailer and ground penetrating radar to locate water mains in need of repair or replacement. These improvements will help eliminate lengthy system outages and water loss, and provide an overall increase in system reliability.

Proposed projects in the North Escambia area that were not funded included:

Town of Century — $673,782 to upgrade existing 2-4 inch lines to 6-inch lines over about 1.91 miles for Fannie Road and about 1.41 miles for Campbell Road.

Town of Century — $50,000 to develop accurate map that can be easily referenced for system needs, including isolation for emergency repairs, maintenance, planning for future expansion, and upgrades, and to satisfy FDEP requirements.

Cottage Hill Waterworks — $195,421 to replace aging water lines, primarily along Highway 95A.

Cottage Hill Waterworks – $214,959 to replace aging water lnies, primarily along Phalrose Street and Williams Ditch Road

ECUA Central Water Reclamation Facility — $238,250 toonstruct two test wells and associated monitoring wells; implement hydrologic monitoring plan to assess and characterize any potential impacts to streams and wetlands on the CWRF property; conduct aquifer modeling. Update and application of groundwater model, and develop preliminary wellfield desigm.

Gonzalez Utilities — $78,540 to update chlorine and pH injections systems on two wells, including soft starter systems.

Town of Jay –$286,959 to 550 meters with drive-by meters.

Molino Utilities – $169,200 to construct 9,300 LF of watermain and appurtenances with fire hydrants for fire protection; replacement of concrete asbestos water main from Meherg Road south to Casey Lane.

Last fall, the District launched a grant program to help local governments and utilities within the District’s 16-county area apply for funding for water supply projects. Projects eligible for grant funding included traditional water supply development projects, as well as alternative water supply projects, such as reuse and conservation projects that result in quantifiable water savings.

After careful review and evaluation of the many worthwhile projects submitted, the District identified 24 projects it was able to fund in this grant cycle.

Many of the funded projects include replacements, repairs or upgrades to aging and deteriorating water distribution and treatment systems currently experiencing water loss, a lack of reliability or inadequate fire protection. The majority of the projects awarded serve financially disadvantaged communities which struggle to fund vital projects without infrastructure assistance.

“This grant funding will provide an important contribution to the health and well-being of these communities,” said Jerry Pate, Governing Board Vice-Chair and representative of the Perdido-Escambia River basin.

Combined with match funding from the local governments and other grants, the District’s funding is anticipated to leverage a total of $15.8 million in projects to meet regional water supply challenges.

Comments

5 Responses to “Water Projects Funded For ECUA, Jay; No Money For Century, Cottage Hill, Molino, Gonzalez”

  1. FaithinUS on February 18th, 2014 11:39 am

    So let’s get this straight– the town of Century cannot get $50,000 to map its water system to aid in emergencies and “satisfy FDEP requirements” (which one would assume to be a priority), while Chumuckla–which just coincidently is the hometown of your Rep in US Congress–gets more than twice as much $$ as Century requested, to get computerized upgrades and new equipment.

    Gee, wonder if there’s any possibility that politics played a role in this selection process?

  2. Jane on February 16th, 2014 5:04 am

    It is sad that a big company with resources gets funding and the smaller companies do not, and they are the ones who really need it.

  3. David on February 15th, 2014 9:36 am

    This is really sad for entities not submitting for grants to better a township or a community.

    But some townships are more focused on a goat or a horse within the city limits than meeting the FDEP requirements as such.

    So easy to not worry about what opportunity passes you by when you are not focused on whats good for all rather than a few one would assume.

    In short…when you snooze you lose.

  4. Oversight on February 15th, 2014 8:27 am

    Steve, from the article: “Last fall, the District launched a grant program to help local governments and utilities within the District’s 16-county area apply for funding for water supply projects.”

    Since Farm Hill, Walnut Hill, Bratt-Davisville, or Central water companies aren’t mentioned in the article, I assume that these utilities didn’t submit grant applications for consideration. Lost opportunity? Probably. But because only three received funding including the ECUA bohemeth (which has millions of $ in reserve) for a “planning project.” Actual repairs and upgrades to aging systems with little access to funding are now stranded, which could reduce drinkable clean water acces to uderserved rural residents. In my opinion, the grant process looks to be subjective to NWFWD favortisim than an objective distribution.

  5. steve on February 15th, 2014 6:54 am

    no upgrades for farm hill utilities? they have broken water pipes all the time and always digging up our road.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News