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New water plant, road projects and a $100M factory expansion: Medina touts Palm Bay growth
Summary
Mayor Rob Medina said the South Regional Water Reclamation Facility will begin treating 1,000,000 gallons per day in summer 2026 with plans to expand to 2,000,000, described paused Go roads work pending a PCI study, and celebrated Harris Technologies' $100 million expansion adding about 94,000 sq. ft. and roughly 100 jobs.
Mayor Rob Medina used his address to outline infrastructure and economic development milestones tied to Palm Bay’s growth.
On utilities, Medina said the new South Regional Water Reclamation Facility is scheduled to come online in summer 2026 and initially will treat 1,000,000 gallons of wastewater per day for Southeast Palm Bay, with planning already under way to expand capacity to 2,000,000 gallons per day and phase two construction to begin within six months of the first phase coming online.
Medina also described work to modernize the water treatment system and the city’s routine maintenance operations. He cited system metrics—about 700 miles of water mains, over 250 miles of gravity sewer mains, 111 miles of wastewater force mains, 138 lift stations, more than 3,300 fire hydrants and roughly 1,400 routine water-quality tests annually—to illustrate the scale of operations.
On transportation, Medina said the Go roads program was paused at council direction while the city conducts a pavement condition index (PCI) study and that several projects continue in design or planning, including the winding of St. John's Heritage Parkway to the city limits, interlocal agreements along Babcock Street to support a new signalized intersection at Eldron Boulevard and resurfacing between Mariloma Boulevard and Willowbrook Street, and progress on Malabar Road widening following a PD&E study completed in December 2025.
On economic development, Medina highlighted that Harris Technologies completed a $100,000,000 expansion of its Palm Bay satellite manufacturing facility in 2025, adding about 94,000 square feet and creating roughly 100 higher-wage jobs with average salaries near $100,000. He also noted the city welcomed more than 400 new businesses in 2025 and cited job-growth statistics from US News showing a 13.2% increase in jobs between 2019 and 2024.
Medina said city leadership hosted regional and federal visitors in September 2025, including representatives from the Florida Department of Commerce and Senator Ashley Moody's central Florida regional director, and said the city expressed support for Brevard County as a candidate location for NASA headquarters and U.S. Space Command.
