AP City Council briefed on water agreements

During Monday night's Avon Park City Council workshop, the council was briefed on several ongoing issues and projects. No motions were made during the workshop.

C.B. Shirey, airport manager and planning and zoning official, presented city council with maps that showed 466 addresses with annexation covenants.

These are properties that are currently receiving city water and have signed an agreement that if their property becomes contiguous with city limits, they will be annexed into the city.

Currently not all of them are contiguous. However, Shirey said that as the population of Highlands County grows, the city may be able to add these homes to their tax base.

"It's a matter of putting a cohesive block together to annex into the city," Shirey said.

At the next city council meeting, Shirey will present council with the number of parcels that are neighboring city limits and can be annexed.

The city seeks to benefit through annexing these properties by adding to their tax base and increasing state funding.

"The revenue sharing of the state is based on population. The more population you have within the city limits, the larger percentage of the revenue sharing we can receive," Shirey said.

Public works

One of the city's RV park's five-year permit with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for wastewater disposal into the city's percolation ponds is up, and the public works department is recommending they connect to city water. Percolation ponds are designed to hold treated wastewater effluent.

For about the last three years, Lake Glenada RV and Mobile Home Park has paid $460 a month to dispose of its waste into the city's retention ponds. If the city takes over, the park will have to pay the same rate as everyone else receiving city water and sewer. That amounts to an average of $2,600 a month for the park.

"I think the right thing to do is for them to connect to the city's wastewater. When that park is at peak capacity I don't know how they can process all that material," said Julian Deleon, public works director.

During the meeting, Deleon also suggested that the city council adopt a driveway and right of way permitting process, similar to the county's, to avoid substandard construction of pavements and roads.

Currently, utility companies are not required to adhere to a standard or permitting process to install utility lines.

Without standards, roads could sag if not enough fill material is used and other construction issues can occur. If no permits are enforced the city will be responsible for these repairs.

"You can't go back and ask them utility companies to do something to the road five years down the line," Deleon said.