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Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Low 74F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.

City council approves three sewer plans.

A pat on the back for forward thinking.

The Inverness City Council has put its foot forward with the approval of three projects to spur the restoration of environmental degradation and plans for future development.

The first project – slated to begin construction by mid-2023 – will address a sewer line on State Road 44 extending westward. The other two projects are in the planning phase with money granted to a company to oversee both projects. The first one is actually phase one of five phases in South Inverness Highlands. The other project is an extension of sewer line for the US 41 North corridor.

Attention to the environment has become a major focus of both state government and local communities. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has ponied up almost $3.4 million for the S.R. 44 sewer project, and the Inverness City Council voted recently to throw in $280,000 from its utility fund.

This is very good news for homeowners affected by the project. Simple math shows that the total shortfall for them is about $305,000. Eric Williams, the Inverness city manager, pointed out that this figure is the only responsibility for the landowners. Although the individual cost hasn’t been firmed up yet, there are 44 septic tanks and almost a quarter-of-a-million square feet of commercial development that is impacted by this endeavor.

Further, as Williams points out, the S.R. 44 sewer phase is the spine for future development. This sewer will be the backbone for about 1,500 undeveloped lots on the west side of the city. That’s a significant number of dwellings that would be dumping nitrogen “nutrients” into the aquifer and other waterways from septic tank runoff, an ugly mess for an already overloaded environmental system.

This city council movement has even greater implications when looking at the South Inverness Highlands area. As we said, this project is phased into five separate plans, with a cost of about $11 million. Currently, these five undertakings affect more than 750 parcels.

As Williams points out, there are congratulations to be spread around, not only to the leadership of the city council and mayor, but to the community. He also said that state government needs a pat on the back for its continuing restoration of an environment brutalized over the past century-plus with little thought to the outcome of lack of planning.

We support the Inverness City Council for addressing these environmentally important projects. The S.R. 44 septic-to-sewer phase is putting infrastructure into a community to help facilitate growth, so the city can not only address environmental restoration and future development but build upon and expand its tax base.

Certainly, all three sewer installation projects provide a return on investment, maybe not immediately, but over the long haul.