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SMRU director reports steady finances, PFAS pilot extended as board presses for clearer consultant role
Summary
SMRU’s director told the board that revenues and debt coverage remain strong while operating expenses are below budget; the board approved a two‑month extension of a PFAS pilot and asked staff to explain the role and past performance of consultant Kimley‑Horn.
Matt, SMRU’s director, told the board the utility is seven months into the fiscal year and operating revenues are tracking at about 69% of projections while operating expenses are running near 49% of budget. He said debt coverage remains within the levels required by bond covenants and that total accounts stand just under 9,800 water customers and roughly 7,500 sewer customers.
The director explained how the system uses irrigation‑quality reclaimed water for eight large irrigation customers and relies on on‑site rapid infiltration basins when customer demand is lower than plant production. "When their needs are less than what our plant is producing, that's our alternate means of disposal, the rapid infiltration basins," Matt said.
Board members pressed for clarity about capacity and compliance. Matt said permitted limits set by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection represent the regulatory ceiling, but operational capacity can be lower because of water‑quality constraints at some plants. "We can produce more, but the quality our customers desire doesn’t line up with that," he said.
The board heard an update on a PFAS pilot study. The director said the pilot has been running for about seven months and that consultant Kimley‑Horn is analyzing data and reviewing skid performance. "Really, what they're trying to do is they're trying to push it to failure—to see how much water we can get through based on the quality we have," Matt said. Kimley‑Horn now anticipates the pilot will run about nine months in total; staff requested a two‑month, $7,600 purchase order change to extend testing.
Several board members asked for more context about Kimley‑Horn’s scope and past work for the utility. One member said Kimley‑Horn has appeared on multiple agendas and asked staff to provide "an explanation of who Kimley‑Horn is, what they do, what our experience with them has been," and to list alternatives. Another member described prior work product as "substandard" in unrelated projects and urged staff to confirm the consultant team being used is the best match for each task.
The director said staff is collecting regular data from the skids and working with the consultant to accelerate testing by increasing flow through the equipment. He also reported that all systems had been 100% in compliance over the previous two months.
The board did not take further formal action on the broader reporting items but approved the requested pilot extension and heard direction to provide clearer documentation of consultant roles and past performance at a future meeting.
