Cocoa adopts ordinance enabling mandatory septic-to-sewer hookups; council keeps provision allowing assessments for cost overruns

The Cocoa City Council on June 10, 2025 adopted Ordinance 03-20-25, creating a city-code framework that allows the council to require property owners to disconnect, "discontinue and abandon or remove" functioning septic tanks and connect to the city sewer when the council approves a sewer-line expansion project it deems financially and practically feasible. The final vote was 4–0 with Councilwoman Kos recused under a Florida Commission on Ethics advisory opinion.

The ordinance creates a new Section 22‑5.2 of the city code that applies on a project-by-project basis (the ordinance text and staff presentation describe it as a "framework" or road map rather than a specific construction plan). City attorneys and staff said the section is intended to let the city qualify for state and federal grants tied to mandatory hookups and to define assessment methods and payment structures if the council later decides to use special assessments or homeowner charges on a particular project.

Why it matters: The measure responds to county and state efforts to reduce nutrient pollution in the Indian River Lagoon by replacing septic systems near the lagoon with centralized sewer. Council and staff repeatedly said grant eligibility often requires a mandatory-connection policy for the project area; opponents warned that shifting cost risk to a small set of homeowners would be unfair and could depress property sales in the affected neighborhoods.

What the ordinance says and the changes adopted - The ordinance authorizes the council to require an existing residential house, building or property to discontinue and abandon or remove a functioning septic tank and connect to the city sewer when the council designates a sewer-line expansion project area and finds the project is financially and practically feasible. The council adopted staff’s recommended wording to add "discontinue and abandon or remove," so abandonment (filling in a tank) is explicitly allowed. - The ordinance preserves a clause—widely discussed in public comment and labeled "section F" during the meeting—that authorizes the city to establish assessment…