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County commission approves Captiva sewer study funds

By TIFFANY REPECKI / trepecki@breezenewspapers.com - | Apr 13, 2021

The Captiva Community Panel has secured from Lee County the funding it needs to proceed with a comprehensive engineering study for a central sewer system connected to Sanibel for the island.

On April 6, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously 5-0 to award a $100,000 grant to the CCP for the engineering firm Kimley-Horn to proceed with a proposed “Phase 2 — Septic Conversion Feasibility Study,” done in cooperation with the county and city of Sanibel.

Prior to the vote, Chairman Kevin Ruane provided the other commissioners with some insight as Sanibel’s former mayor and a long-time islander, explaining that Captiva’s septic systems are a water quality issue and that the study will create a plan to convert to central sewer if the island chooses.

“The technology’s there, the capacity’s there,” he said of Sanibel’s system and possibly adding Captiva to it. “So you can actually turn something pretty quickly from a septic situation to a sewer situation.”

“I fully support this,” Ruane noted of the study.

He added that he would make a motion for its approval if he could, however, as chair he cannot. The others pointed out that he could pass the gavel, which would allow for him to make that motion. Ruane happily and quickly passed the gavel to Vice Chairman Cecil Pendergrass and motioned for approval.

The motion was seconded and approved.

“We all live here and we’re all one community,” Pendergrass said. “To have that much waste going into the ground — that has to stop.”

“The reality is this is the only real solution,” Commissioner Ray Sandelli said.

On a related note, the Sanibel City Council unanimously approved 5-0 a resolution for a memorandum of understanding for the proposed study between the county, city and CCP at its meeting on April 6.

“The panel has been dedicated to developing a central sewer plan for Captiva property owners outside of South Seas (Island Resort) to consider as an alternative to continuing reliance on septic systems,” CCP President Jay Brown, who also chairs the panel’s Wastewater Committee, said.

“The engineering study will develop solid cost estimates for the project and evaluate alternative methods of allocating the collection system cost to property owners. A final objective of the study is to describe the amount of community disruption that might exist during collection system construction,” he continued. “With all of the above information, Captiva property owners can then make an informed decision in a democratic process as to whether or not Captiva property owners outside South Seas should convert from septic systems to central sewer processing.”

Brown noted the county commission’s unanimous approval to fund the study, as well as the Sanibel council’s unanimous approval to participate in the development of the study and to work with the CCP and Lee to develop a MOU to define the responsibilities of each party if the conversion has support.

“The Wastewater Committee is very pleased that the county has decided to fund the engineering project and work with Sanibel and Captiva to develop an agreement governing how the three parties would work together and cost share the provision of central sewer wastewater processing to Captiva,” he said.

Brown reported that Ruane attended the panel’s meeting in February, adding that he was instrumental in securing the funding for the study and encouraging county staff to work with the islands on this.

“Kevin promised to advocate for county funding of the engineering design project. He was a strong proponent of Captiva and Sanibel working in partnership to provide central sewer service to Captiva when he was the Sanibel mayor,” he said. “Kevin’s support has been critical to the progress made and he has really delivered for his Sanibel and Captiva constituents. The panel cannot thank him enough.”

Brown also extended the panel’s thanks and appreciation to Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith for her leadership in gaining support on Captiva’s sister island for developing a central sewer plan.

“The Sanibel City Council’s approval of the MOU is critical to the development of the central sewer plan,” he said.

The CCP originally received proposals from two firms, Kimley-Horn and CONSOR Engineering. Brown explained that CONSOR’s proposal would have evaluated using “STEP” processing.

“Kimley-Horn agreed to provide a thorough evaluation of STEP processing as part of its proposed project, thus eliminating the need for a separate project from CONSOR,” he said.

Brown noted that the project design and deliverables have been finalized.

“The project design is flexible and will allow substantial input from the panel and Sanibel as the project is underway,” he said. “The project is expected to take nine months and will result in a comprehensive written report and public presentation of the project results.”