Dade City hears update on proposed wastewater plant, funding options and timetable

Tom Ville, a professional engineer with Infrastructure Engineering Group, told the Dade City Commission at a budget workshop that consultants are finalizing the basis of design for a proposed replacement wastewater treatment plant and preparing options for phasing and financing. “We are just about finished with the basis of design,” Ville said, adding that preliminary design, topographic and boundary surveys and utility locates are already under way.

The presentation said the initial design target is a 3.2 MGD plant; the city’s current permitted capacity is 1.5 MGD. Ville said a 3.2 MGD first phase would accommodate about 7,500 additional housing units beyond currently committed development, and that the project cost estimate used in a recent application was $78,000,000 for a full 3.2 MGD build — including demolition of the old plant and a small lift station to serve the adjacent neighborhood.

City and consultant speakers emphasized that the final delivered scope may be smaller for financial reasons. “We may walk that phase back . . . to something like a 2.5 million gallon a day phase. And that’s strictly a financial decision that would be made,” Ville said. He and commissioners discussed value-engineering options, including smaller biosolids handling and staged equipment installation, to lower initial cost.

Why it matters: the plant is central to the city’s ability to authorize new development and to the capacity reserved through developer agreements. Ville said that, even if the city builds a somewhat smaller initial plant, the design is being prepared so the facility can be expanded later without redesign.

Financing and grant prospects were a major focus. Ville said design and permitting so far have been funded with an EPA grant and a state appropriation, with roughly 25% of design costs covered by developer impact fees; construction funding is expected to be a mix of grants or loans with principal forgiveness, developer fees and a likely State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan for remaining costs. The consultant said the city’s SRF application sought funds tied to hurricane supplemental appropriations and that the state is evaluating requests; he noted the city appears to qualify for principal forgiveness for SRF-eligible hurricane-related projects.

Commissioners asked how long a first-phase plant would serve the city. Ville said, even if the first phase is reduced to 2.5 MGD for budget reasons, he had “a hard time believing you would be building an expansion anytime within the next 20 years” based on typical buildout rates, while also noting rapid market changes could alter that timeline. Commissioners and the consultant repeatedly distinguished between projects already committed by signed utility service agreements and projects that had not yet signed agreements.

Consultant recommendations and next steps included scheduling one-on-one briefings with commissioners on the updated water and wastewater facilities plans, completing the basis-of-design recommendation, finishing preliminary design for components unaffected by the biological treatment decision, and finalizing the capital finance and business plans. Ville also described potential developer mechanisms to bring forward impact fees at start of construction (a “contingent utility service agreement”) so developers could reserve capacity and the city would receive funds at the time construction begins.

Commissioners and the consultant reviewed additional wastewater-related capital items outside the plant: backup generators for lift stations (including one at Sixth and Pond that experienced flooding), inflow and infiltration corrections, and trunk and force-main work tied to DOT road projects. Ville said a US 98 trunk sewer structure required an unanticipated repair during construction and that the city is awaiting final cost information from DOT.

The presentation also covered a list of water projects (wells, main extensions, a Tenth Street well building replacement requested under the hurricane funding application) and a required lead-service-line inventory and replacement program; Ville said the city has not yet found confirmed lead service lines in testing to date and that a grant covers 49% of the lead-service work cited.

Ending: Commissioners did not take formal action at the workshop. Staff and consultants will return with the finalized basis of design, one-on-one briefings with commissioners, a recommended phasing plan, and a capital finance/business plan for further commission consideration.