American Beach water and sewer conversion reaches physical completion; board cancels May meeting

The American Beach Water and Sewer conversion project is physically complete and awaiting final engineering sign-off, county staff told the American Beach Water and Sewer District Advisory Board at its April 10 meeting.

Amy Bell, senior management analyst with the Nassau County manager’s office, said the project reached partial substantial completion in August 2024 and that the engineers’ final completion report is expected within about two weeks. "This project at this point, as far as physical work, is complete," Bell said.

The advisory board — created in 2021 to represent property-owner interests in the design and construction of the project — was told remaining work is administrative: engineers’ final sign-off, county walk-throughs to clear the punch list, county action to pay final invoices and release contractor retainage, and final reimbursement requests to state agencies. Bell said the county expects to finalize state loan closeouts in June or July and then determine any non-forgivable share that the county must repay; after that, property owners will be reimbursed three years of non-ad valorem assessments that had been placed on tax bills.

The project received forgivable and non-forgivable funding through a State Revolving Fund (SRF) arrangement and additional remediation support through a REDI grant administered with the St. Johns River Water Management District. Bell said five property owners had work quotes exceeding the REDI grant allowance and were asked to pay the difference; the county will reimburse any unused grant balance after closeout.

Board members were also briefed on operations and customer service: properties that have connected to the county system are customers of the Nassau Amelia utilities and should report system issues, billing questions or suspected line damage to the utility’s customer service office. Bell noted customer service hours and that emergency after-hours contact information is printed on bills and posted on the county website.

Board members and residents raised concerns about sinkholes and lateral repairs after septic-tank abandonment. One resident, Pam McCorkle of 5428 Price Street, reported sinkholes in her yard and asked whom to contact if backfill or remediation does not resolve the issue. Bell and other staff described working with the contractor to revisit and fill depressions while crews are still in the area and said warranty provisions in the conversion contract could apply to line repairs; work related to landscaping and yard remediation funded by the REDI grant will be scheduled with property owners who requested quotes.

The advisory board voted to cancel its regular May 8 meeting and to reconvene when the county had finalized loan closeout information from the state. A board member moved to cancel the May 8 meeting and another board member seconded; the chair called for the ayes and the motion carried. The board indicated a tentative next meeting date of June 12, 2025, pending the county’s receipt of state closeout details.

Bell said that once the ribbon-cutting is held and administrative closeouts are complete, the American Beach Water and Sewer Special District will be dissolved and the advisory board will be disbanded because the district’s financing purpose will have been fulfilled and ownership/maintenance will roll into the county utility system.

The advisory board heard expressions of thanks to staff and contractor representatives who worked on the project and was reminded that the county will post customer-service and warranty contact information for property owners and coordinate any outstanding remediation work.

Action at a glance: The board approved canceling the May 8, 2025 advisory board meeting and will schedule a meeting after state loan closeouts are finalized. Other remaining administrative actions include final payment and retainage release to the contractor and submission of final invoices to the state for SRF/REDI reimbursement.