County Commissioners are so concerned about a proposed STA near the Lazy 7 subdivision that they have rescheduled their own regular meetings …
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OKEECHOBEE – Okeechobee County Commissioners are so concerned about a proposed storm water treatment area (STA) near the Lazy 7 subdivision that they have rescheduled their own regular meetings in order to be able to attend South Florida Water Management District Governing Board meetings.
At the July 28 meeting of the Okeechobee County Commission, commissioners agreed to send a letter to SFWMD and Florida Department of Environmental Protection in opposition to the Lower Kissimmee Basin Storm water Treatment Area project. Commissioners voiced concerns the project – which would hold water in cells 2 feet o 4 feet deep – could hurt property values and homeowner insurance rates for those in the Lazy 7 subdivision.
The commission regularly meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. This conflicts with SFWMD meetings which are usually on the second Thursday of the month. To ensure Okeechobee County Commissioners can be present at the SFWMD governing meetings, the commissioners voted to move their first meeting in September to Sept. 6 and their first meeting in October to Oct. 10. November and/or December meetings may also be rescheduled.
The 3,400-acre Lower Kissimmee Basin Stormwater Treatment Project, located along the Kissimmee River about three miles upstream from Lake Okeechobee, will capture and clean water prior to it flowing into Lake Okeechobee. It is a public/private partnership. The property owners will build and operate the STA and SFWMD will pay them to remove phosphorus from the water.
Okeechobee commissioners questioned the placement of the project so near a housing area. They also questioned the cost of the project.
“I feel if you’re going to pay $10,000 acre for a water project there are better places to do it,” said Commission Chair David Hazellief. “This is a private company that came in and bought the land. So far we have had no say-so in it. I’m going to do my best to try to get them to put it somewhere else.”
Commissioner Terry Burroughs said while more water storage and water treatment is needed north of the lake, he would like to see projects built north of Highway 60.
“I don’t want homeowners to pay higher insurance simply because someone wants to put a filtering system there that may or may not work,” said Burroughs.
