Dan, an engineering consultant presenting the Town of Pembroke Park’s wastewater master plan, told commissioners the town’s sanitary system grew piecemeal and now contains many small lift stations that raise long‑term operation and maintenance costs. “There’s a whole lot of infrastructure that could be consolidated,” Dan said, pointing to clusters of lift stations around 30th Avenue and in the town’s southeast.

The plan shows many short, aging sewer runs and numerous small lift stations originally installed for mobile home parks. That layout, the consultant said, increases pump runtime, electric costs and pump wear; in several places a gravity sewer replacement would allow abandonment of multiple lift stations and reduce costs. As an example, he said the 30th Avenue area could be reduced from about nine lift stations to two.

Why it matters: the town is operating close to or above agreed treatment capacity and is paying for overage. Dan said the town’s current billed flow is “1.2” (units not specified in the presentation) and that the town was “over capacity about 98,000” (units not specified), which he summarized as roughly “108%” of permitted capacity. The consultants recommended short‑term fixes to reduce inflow and infiltration (I&I) and medium‑term pipe and lift‑station projects to avoid repeated overage charges or the need to buy permanent extra capacity.

Key recommendations and findings in the plan included:
- Targeted I&I projects using updated sewer atlas maps. Consultants identified clay pipe segments below groundwater that should be prioritized for lining or replacement and advised using camera inspections for verification before lining.
- Consolidation of lift stations where feasible by installing gravity sewers; the consultant said gravity flow “pays you back” compared with repeated pumping and repumping.
- A combination of short‑turnaround maintenance contracts (piggyback contracts) to clean and line priority pipe segments and larger design/build projects to rebuild or replace key lift stations.
- Telemetry to monitor pump run times and detect I&I by exception. The consultant described scenarios where operators see pumps running continuously during peak hours — “there might be 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening during your peaks, that it’s running continuously,” and said telemetry would let staff target crews rather than run broad, expensive investigations.

The presentation also covered industrial flows and lift station 19, which serves the Coca‑Cola facility. Dan and town staff said industrial discharges and solids have historically damaged pumps there; the plan calls for industrial‑grade, corrosion‑resistant equipment and coordination with Coca‑Cola on peak discharge timing so wet‑well sizing and starter counts match the actual duty cycle.

Capacity and interlocal agreements: consultants flagged two separate capacity constraints — (1) contractual treatment capacity at the upstream wastewater treatment plant and (2) physical limits imposed by a county force main where a western section of town ties into county infrastructure. The consultants recommended staff pursue capacity negotiations with neighboring jurisdictions (Pembroke Pines, Broward County) and to use the updated hydraulic model when evaluating developer proposals so impacts are clear before approvals.

Near‑term work already under way: the consultant noted the town has active engineering work (replacing or rehabbing problem lift stations such as LS‑17, LS‑14 and LS‑19) and an existing continuing‑services contract that can be used to move small I&I projects quickly.

What the town will decide next: no formal votes or ordinances were taken during the workshop. Staff and consultants agreed to follow up with: (a) field verification of high‑priority sewer manhole and invert elevations before design, (b) using piggyback maintenance contracts to schedule camera inspection and lining, (c) continuing negotiation on treatment capacity with neighboring jurisdictions, and (d) integrating the sewer maps and project lists into the town’s CIP and grant program schedule. Dan said he will work with town staff to scope projects and cost estimates for the CIP.

Ending: consultants emphasized the plan is a tool to guide capital budgeting and grant applications and urged the town to sequence maintenance, small repairs and larger consolidation projects so costs and service interruptions are minimized.