INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – The Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved termination of the septic to sewer conversion project in the communities of Summerplace and Oceanaire Heights after residents of both communities presented opposition to the project.
In August 2013, the Board approved Schulke, Bittle and Stoddard LLC to provide a feasibility study on transitioning the communities from a septic tank system to a centralized sewer system after concern was raised over the septic tanks’ impact on the Indian River Lagoon.
The study’s findings were presented to Summerplace and Oceanaire Heights residents on March 17, but the findings were not enough to convince residents that the conversion was necessary.
Commissioner Joe Flescher said he attended the meeting and assured the rest of the Board that this was not a case in which the community members were opposed to change, but they were opposed to incurring costs and inconveniences when the study lacked evidence that their septic tanks were harmfully impacting the lagoon.
“The citizens of Summerplace and all in attendance truly cared about the environment,” Flescher said. “There were a lot of environmentalists in the room.”
Flescher said, “It was all about, there was no study being done that could identify their septic tanks as faulty and needing change.”
Commissioner Tim Zorc said if there was so called “smoking gun proof” that pollutants were moving from the septic tanks into the lagoon, the project would have more of a backbone.
But the lack of evidence coupled with opposition from the community including a petition signed by approximately 116 residents prompted commissioners to terminate the project.