Council discusses septic‑to‑sewer funding and lake cleanup; no immediate action taken

Council members and staff spent significant time discussing septic‑to‑sewer conversion, potential costs to homeowners, and the town’s efforts to secure state grants for sewer infrastructure and lake cleanup, but took no formal action at the June 3 meeting.

Town Manager Joe told councilors the town has pursued state appropriations for septic‑to‑sewer projects but “we’ve been striking out” recently and that available state funding has been limited. Joe said the homeowner cost without grant assistance is in the “$20,000 range” as presented in the town’s study, and he described that cost as typically structured as a special assessment spread over about 20 years on property tax bills. He said the town would prefer to see that number reduced by grant support.

Council members linked sewer work to lake health, noting a recent sewage spill and the need to demonstrate to legislators that the town is maintaining its infrastructure before seeking state help. Several council members urged continued pursuit of grant funding from Tallahassee for both sewer conversion and lake remediation; others warned that paving investments should be coordinated with sewer planning because sewer construction can require cutting into newly paved streets. No motion was made to change the town’s current sewer planning schedule at the meeting.