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…