Let’s get back to thinking green! We have a 2-year limited window for Palmetto Bay's $12,282,434 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. One very positive idea - let's put that ARPA money to work to save our local environment; assist those without the financial resources to hook up. It benefits all of us – and Biscayne Bay.

History: May 20, 2013, Mayor Stanczyk and the 2013 Village Council petitioned the Miami-Dade County Commission for an administrative waiver - a 10 year extension before requiring the homes located within the Franjo Triangle to hook up to the water and sewer service (section 24-43.1 of the Miami-Dade County Code). View: Palmetto Bay Resolution 2013-47.

So what has happened in that time? How many have hooked up to sewer? Worse yet, are we sure that the aged septic systems are not failing?

Now we have an opportunity, Palmetto Bay's $12,282.434 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. Palmetto Bay officials need to get this right the first time or future expenses will lead to even more tax increases.  This money can properly provide relief for those most in need in our community. Let's use the funding correctly and not on items that may not pass auditing in future by the Federal government, by providing funding sewer hookup fees for those in District 3 that face a huge layout of funding in 18 months. 

Sewer hook ups may not be sexy, but saving our environment is. My proposal makes better use of Palmetto Bay's limited funding under the American Rescue Plan Act. It gets these homes off septic and onto the sewer system extension that both Commissioners Moss and Sorenson worked with us (Palmetto Bay) to make happen. Save Biscayne Bay. 

This money needs to be invested wisely, not squandered.  So, let’s get people off aged septic systems and hooked up to sewer. Let’s get Palmetto Bay back to thinking green! Let’s actually ‘build back better’! Hook ups are actually a requirement by 2023 and Miami Dade water and Sewer will begin placing liens on these housing units if we don’t help them.

The sewer over septic priority cannot be overstated. Palmetto Bay has another ticking time bomb on its hands. The Miami Herald reported that Sea rise makes septic tanks ‘ticking bombs.’ Why does Miami-Dade still allow them? by Alex Harris, January 15, 2021. For those without a Miami Herald subscription, the Miami Herald reported that:

Miami-Dade’s 120,000-plus septic tanks — an aging, leaky system for disposing of human waste that experts have pointed to as a public health and environmental hazard for bay waters since the 1950s. Yet, despite periodic calls as early as the 1960s for ambitious sewage system upgrades, the Herald found that the county has put only a small dent in the septic mess over the decades — and actually continues to issue permits for new ones.

Money, as usual, is the big stumbling block for a clearly defined problem with straightforward solutions.

Homeowners don’t like paying for it, and neither does the county. The most recent estimate for Miami-Dade was $3.3 billion to get rid of most of them, and the cost per house can balloon far past the average $10,000 price tag. That’s why residents have been granted reprieves from orders to hook into nearby sewage lines for decades.

My proposed solution: Use a substantial portion to go green and complete the sewer system. Homes need hook ups. Here is a one-time gift of money (our Federal tax dollars at work) that may never be repeated.

Photo Credit: Official Pinecrest, published in the Community Newspapers.

It can be done. Pinecrest has been forward thinking: using this money for big ticket items that they have been advocating for. So should Palmetto Bay. Pinecrest was notified that it would receive approximately $8 million of Federal funds that could only be used for very specific matters including water projects. The Village Council and staff worked quickly to take the necessary steps to use most of those dollars to finally resolve the water issue in Pinecrest. See: Community News, Pinecrest Breaks Ground on Water Project, August 22, 2021.

Another positive point - this is a one-time capital expense. Many of the slated uses set by Palmetto Bay officials are just a 2 year bridge, after which the taxpayers will have to pick up the continuing expenses of the employees slated to be hired. Will this lead to even more tax increases in the future?

Let's really build back better! – and smarter. This ARPA money is truly a one-time opportunity.

BACKGROUND - PRIOR RELATED POST: See September 3, 2021, Budget review - my first statement of concern and it is a big one: how the Village plans on spending $12.3 million.