Kyle and I went to a meeting with the Village public works folks. This is Kyle’s report on it.
All,
Greg and I were invited to
meet with David Willams (Public Works Director) and
Robert Wiley (Public Works Project Manager) this morning. The main purpose of
the meeting was to follow up on an inquiry from Greg to the Village about how
Quarterdeck Cove sewer was to be routed into the lift station located on our
park property. as shown in the attached Exhibit. The
summary of the meeting is as follows:
- David stated that the
primary benefit to Estero River Heights residents for
routing Quarterdeck Cove Sewage is a reduction in overall project cost. Reducing the number of lift stations, the length and depth required
for gravity sewer pipe runs, and also adding their 27 properties to our 100+
property total to split up the costs for the lift station in our neighborhood.
- I asked about how
Quarterdeck could contribute to the expenses related to maintaining the hedge
and sprinkler system around the lift station. These costs would kick in after
the 1 year period as currently constructed in the draft easement agreement I
sent several months ago. Robert suggested we just allow the Village to do it.
If we go that route it would no longer come at a financial cost to us, the
Village would oversee the maintenance of the sprinkler system, trimming of the
hedge, and should one of the hedges die the Village would replace it. If they
maintain the hedges it would not add cost to the project or incur an additional
assessment to our properties rather it would be funded through property taxes
paid by all Village residents. The only provision we would need to change would
be to allow the Village to have a permanent maintenance easement around the
lift station to access the property. The easement would not be larger than
necessary to access the hedge on all sides to trim it periodically.
- Greg asked about how much
the project would cost as funding currently stands. David said they are still
discussing numbers internally but estimate it to be somewhere between $10,000-$20,000 per property. This includes the cost
to hook up each property to the sewer and water system. However, they are still pursuing a FEMA grant
to further reduce the cost of the project for residents. They will be receiving
news on whether or not they will be receiving all or a portion of the money
they requested from the Federal Government. If they do receive this money it
would be the largest pot of grant money they have received for the project to
date so there should be significant cost savings that should significantly
reduce the cost of $10,000-$20,000 per property. The negative side of this
though is due to the additional reviews of FEMA-funded projects the start date
of the project would be delayed until mid/summer 2024. This delay will impact
our residents who are rebuilding and have already demolished their septic
systems. They will need to permit and build a septic system if they want to
move in prior to the completion of the project. If it is delayed the completion
date would likely be sometime in fall/winter 2025.
- Greg asked when the final
cost numbers per property owner would be known. David replied that they are
preparing to take the proposed numbers to the Village Council for approval
sometime in October. So keep an eye out for when the Village Council meeting
agendas are posted. Follow this link if you don't already receive email updates
from the Village (https://estero-fl.gov/subscribe-via-e-mail/).
- Due to the fact the
project is still in permitting and the question of whether or not they receive
the FEMA funding or not the schedule for the project is very fluid, but David
said the following is currently the expectation. October Village Council meeting
to finalize cost number estimates. November project would go out for bid for
contractors and there would likely be a neighborhood meeting to discuss final
cost numbers. December commence construction. Again this is very fluid and can
completely change based on FEMA funding.
- There were also
discussions about expectations during the active construction phase of the
project. The following is a list of items discussed.
Likely that construction would take over a
year.
They are putting in a condition to limit
the size of the active work area to something like 100-200 linear feet.
There will absolutely be periods of
construction when residents will be unable to access their driveways. However,
access to the neighborhood will always be available as well as trash, mail,
Amazon delivery service, etc. Residents may have to park their cars down the
road and walk home for a period of time.
The Village will be constantly issuing
public notices during construction to inform us about what roads they will be
working on and when so we can have some additional notice. If anyone needs
accommodations for something like the delivery of materials to their house
during their rebuild of their home the village and contractor will try their
best to accommodate, but cannot guarantee to satisfy every request. Notices
will be posted in a variety of ways including this website. (https://voeuep.com/broadway-ave-west/)
There were several other
minor items discussed that I may be forgetting. Greg if I missed anything
consequential feel free to chime in.
Regards,
Kyle Kincaid