City of Starke, Bradford County outline $14 million plan to extend water and sewer to State Road 16 bypass

City of Starke officials and their engineers told Bradford County commissioners on Oct. 16 that extending both water and wastewater service to the State Road 16/301 bypass is technically feasible and is being pursued in stages, with an estimated cost to deliver full water and sewer service to the bypass of about $14 million.

Justin D'Mello, vice president and professional engineer with Woodard & Curran, briefed the commission on two planning alternatives the firm evaluated and on funding the county and city have assembled so far. D'Mello said the team’s recommended route — “alternative 2” — would place about 16,000 linear feet of new force main on main roads and include smaller lift-station upgrades; his high‑level planning estimate for that option was roughly $8 million. An alternative that routed more pipe through Saratoga Heights would require roughly 22,000 linear feet of 12‑inch force main and a larger lift station and had a planning estimate near $11.8 million.

D'Mello said the City of Starke and Bradford County have used a memorandum of understanding and legislative appropriations to secure a combined total of more than $4 million to date and that the county committed $4 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to the joint effort. He said the county’s initial $100,000 contribution paid for an evaluation of sewer alternatives.

On schedule, D'Mello said the city is pursuing Department of Environmental Protection approval of its water plans at DEP’s November 2025 hearing. “We are looking at currently for design of the lower half, the Orange Street portion to be about 12 months,” he said, and said water construction could bid in early 2026 with a 12‑month construction window; sewer service to the bypass, he said, would likely be in place in 2027 under the current schedule.

The city and county remain short of full construction funding. D'Mello said the portion of the project he characterized as the bypass utility extension is about $14 million and that the team would continue seeking state legislative appropriations, developer agreements, impact fees and other grants to close the gap. He and others said the county would add up to $400,000 more for design and the city planned a legislative ask for the current session; at one point in Q&A a figure of roughly $2.7 million was cited as part of the legislative-day request package.

County commissioners pressed presenters for clearer documentation. Commissioner Daughtry said the project “has changed from what we were initially told” and asked for drawings: “If we would have turned over the $4,000,000, the only thing I've seen this money go towards so far has been repairs to the city,” he said. Daughtry repeatedly asked for 60% drawings and for quarterly updates; several commissioners asked that the county manager and city manager meet and that the county receive design drawings and status reports.

Chrissy Thompson, who spoke on behalf of the City of Starke, said the city remains committed to the joint project and that she would work to improve communications: she agreed to provide drawings and to return with updates after DEP’s November hearing.

Why it matters: extending utilities to the bypass is the county’s primary tool for encouraging commercial development along State Road 16 and 301. Commissioners said they support the project in principle but want better documentation of how county ARPA funds have been used and clearer milestones before releasing additional funds.

What’s next: D'Mello and the city said design work will proceed in phases this fall. County staff and commissioners asked for drawings, more regular updates and a return presentation after the DEP hearing to confirm next steps and the size of any legislative ask.