Crystal River sewer project discussed

Fans and detractors of the sewer project around King’s Bay in Crystal River spoke Tuesday at a public hearing conducted by the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC).
 

Attorney Clark Stillwell, former city attorney for Crystal River, said the sewer project was a great value for the homeowner.
 

“It will never, ever be cheaper,” said Stillwell, representing the Carruth Estate, which is within the assessment district. “It will increase the value of real estate.”
 

Ben Torricelli, of Country Club Drive in Crystal River, let the BOCC know his dislike for the project.
 

“We got lumped in for numbers,” Torricelli said. “This is a callous approach to what we have to pay. We’re being fleeced by the government.”
 

Robert Knight, water resources director, opened the public hearing by outlining its purpose.
 

“For the record, there are about 244 parcels that would be affected,” Knight said. “We do not have cost figures yet because engineering is still under consideration. That has not been finalized. This is simply to establish whether or not you want to move forward with the potential of assessing a levy in the future.”
 

Commissioner Dennis Damato gave background information for discussion.
 

“There are questions within the community about this project, which
require clarification,” Damato said.
 

Damato was involved in drafting the interlocal agreement between the county and Crystal River to start the project. It was approved by the city and the county on March 31, 2009.
 

“The project is a little unusual in that county residents living outside the city limits are affected by and will become sewer customers receiving services from the city of Crystal River,” Damato said.
 

The method of assessment would be the same as that used by the county on Halls River Road, Chassahowitzka and other sewer projects.
 

The DEP paying 85 percent of the project through a grant under an earlier agreement is not currently available now or in the future, Damato said.
 

In addition to the special assessment, the property owners also are affected by Crystal River’s surcharge of 25 percent.
 

“The city has the legal right to assess a 25 percent surcharge on the expansion fee and sewer usage fees under Florida statute,” Damato said.
 

Damato, however, said past sewer projects showed the city should hold off on the surcharge decision until the current area project was complete, with final cost and assessment units in place and firmly
established.
 

“The reason is simple,” Damato said. “Much can change between the assessment hearing, receipt of the construction costs, preliminary public hearing, the project completion and a final assessment hearing.”
 

Commissioner Joe Meek said the affected property owners had four concerns:
 

* the 85 percent grant and the 15 percent remaining cost and how that’s allocated;
 

* where the calculation of the expansion fee came from;
 

* what the 25 percent surcharge is paid toward; and
 

* how the reused water line extension to Progress Energy is subsidized.
 

Knight said Crystal River had secured 85 percent of the expected cost as the grant. The remaining 15 percent would be covered by the assessment, the amount of which would depend on the number of units served.
 

Andy Houston, Crystal River city manager, said the expansion fee relates only to water and sewer, no other city services.
 

The Progress Energy extension would increase capacity in the city’s disposal system. The expansion fees are maintained separately and do not enrich the city, Houston said.
 

The city had no cost analysis, Houston said, as it would have no purpose against the 25 percent surcharge because the city was obligated to charge it whether it was too high or too low, just as the county was obligated to accept it. The 25 percent figure was the same accepted in a 1989 interlocal agreement between the county and the city of Inverness.
 

“Without it, we wouldn’t have entered into the interlocal agreement,”
Houston said.
 

Norman Hopkins, King’s Bay homeowner, spoke for other homeowners to question the interlocal agreement and the municipal service benefit unit. Commissioners recommended further discussion between Hopkins and county staff.
 

Following the discussion, the BOCC voted unanimously on a resolution to use the uniform method for the levy of a special assessment for the project, the 2011 Citrus County/City of Crystal River Wastewater Special Assessment District — Area 114. The resolution maintains the grant and is the first step to moving the project to completion.
 

Chronicle reporter Chris Van Ormer can be reached at cvanormer@chronicleonline.com or 352-564-2916.