Paradise officials report progress on sewer alternatives, favoring phased approach and federal funding pursuit

Mark Maddox, Paradise public works director, gave a detailed update on the Paradise Sewer Project, telling the Town Council that staff have formed an ad hoc committee, held public outreach and are preparing five alternatives for council and community review this summer.

Maddox summarized recent activity: community meetings and a survey of affected parcels produced a community preference signal—respondents favored serving Skyway and downtown in an initial phase over Clark Road—and staff have launched a revised project website at paradisesewer.com to collect feedback. He said the ad hoc committee now includes two Paradise Irrigation District board members and their district manager to foster collaboration.

Maddox said the town submitted a letter of interest to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 219 program and that the Corps could provide up to $50,000,000 if federal approvals and appropriations proceed. He also said the project team is pursuing State Water Resources Board funding of up to $27,000,000. Later on the agenda, council considered reallocating $20,000,000 of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) infrastructure funds to the sewer project.

Maddox said staff are meeting vendors and preparing an alternatives analysis, with a goal of returning to council with five complete project alternatives in June or July for direction on funding, permitting and environmental review. He described the project objective as “to find a fundable, permittable, and scalable wastewater collection and treatment solution in Paradise.”

During public comment, Mark Thorpe of the Paradise Ridge Chamber of Commerce urged better access to ad hoc meeting outputs for businesses, and Cliff Jacobson pressed for clearer website content about alternatives (gravity sewer vs. alternatives such as septic or STEP systems). Maddox and other staff said the website will be updated and another public meeting will be scheduled.

Council members asked questions about timetable, coordination with Paradise Irrigation District and how parcel-service phasing would affect cost and service levels. No formal council decision to select a specific sewer alternative was recorded at the meeting; Maddox closed by asking residents to contact the project team through paradisesewer.com with additional ideas or questions and announced another public sewer meeting at a date to be determined.