Margate joins Broward County design effort for regional biosolids treatment plant

Margate commissioners voted unanimously to join an interlocal agreement with Broward County to pay for design work on a regional biosolids thermal-drying facility, a move staff said is needed to address shrinking disposal outlets and rapidly rising disposal costs.

Kurt Kaiser, Margate's utilities director, told the commission the city currently produces roughly 6,800 wet tons of biosolids a year and pays several hundred thousand dollars annually to haul and land-apply the solids. He said recent state rules and legislation have dramatically reduced permitted land-application sites and tightened nutrient-testing requirements, increasing competition for disposal capacity and pushing prices upward. "Our outlets are shrinking, but the number of producers are staying the same," Kaiser said in his presentation.

The Broward County working group recommended constructing a regional thermal-drying plant that would convert class B biosolids into a pathogen-free Class A product, reduce volume to roughly one-fifth and provide multiple disposal or reuse options. Kaiser described the concept as technically and financially feasible based on a multi-jurisdictional conceptual study and said the county's preferred site is near the county wastewater complex at Copans Road and Powerline. "Thermal drying produces a Class A product that is pathogen free, odor stable and suitable for unrestricted reuse," Kaiser said.

Under the design-phase interlocal agreement, Margate's share for design was presented as approximately $1,850,000 (about 3.7% of the preliminary design budget allocation). Staff and Broward County representatives stressed that the design ILA is an early commitment and would be followed later by separate agreements for construction and operation; those later documents would address capacity allocations, governance details and cost-sharing mechanics.

Mark (Broward County utilities) said the county will construct the facility to a planned capability (about 270,000 wet tons per year) and that participating municipalities would reserve capacity and pay proportionally. He described a true-up process and said large users would pay identical per-ton rates for the capacity they purchase. "Each of the large users pays the exact same rate for each ton of capacity you purchase," Mark said.

Commissioners pressed staff on governance, oversight, whether the county would later privatize operations, and the risk of cost shifts to ratepayers. Commissioners were repeatedly told the project would be funded from enterprise/water utility funds (not the city's general fund) and that the project is identified in the utility capital plan and eligible for utility revenue bonds if it qualifies. The mayor and commissioners stressed the importance of negotiating contract protections and transparency before construction and operational agreements are finalized.

Vice Mayor Casciano moved to approve participation in the design ILA; Commissioner Simone seconded. After public comment from residents and stakeholders who expressed both support and questions about cost and oversight, the commission approved the resolution in a roll-call vote with all present voting yes.

The county requested a decision on design participation to keep the regional schedule; staff said joining the design phase does not irrevocably obligate Margate to construction terms that would later be negotiated but that late participation could increase future costs or limit capacity options. The commission directed staff to continue vetting governance language, return with contract details and monitor legislative changes that could further restrict disposal options.