Oakland commissioners approve $55 million on-site sewage treatment plan

The Oakland Town Commission approved Tuesday, Jan. 27, the adoption of an on-site sewage treatment disposal system remediation plan as required per the state. 

Florida Statutes require local governments to come up with a remediation plan if the Florida Department of Environment Protection deems on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems are contributing at least 20% of nutrient pollutants that go into a basin management action plan area.

Oakland is located within three basin management action plans: the Upper Ocklawaha, the Wekiva River, and the Wekiwa and Rock Springs. 

Oakland Public Works Director Mike Parker said staff have been working with Kimley-Horn, a consulting firm, to develop a remediation plan based on information on on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems from 2023 and the following criteria: 

•  Inventory of existing on-site sewage treatment and disposal system
• Estimate of future growth in new systems in the next 20 years. 
• Inventory of systems expected to be eliminated over the next 20 years
• Identification of new or extended sewer lines and replacement of a sewage system by connecting to a central sewer.
• Estimation of the number and cost of on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems that will require upgrading
• Any other cost-effective and financially-feasible projects necessary to achieve the nutrient load reductions

The plan is simple: Meet state requirements by lowering the town’s nutrient pollution. 

To do that, the town wants to go from septic systems to sewer systems, which transport waste to centralized treatment plants to disinfect and remove contaminants more effectively than the soil-absorption method used by septic systems.

“The good news here is that for the past decade, Oakland has been compelling developers to construct central sewer systems to accommodate new growth, and we have

been diligent in extending those lines to enable septic to sewer conversions,” Parker said. 

On-site sewage treatment and disposal system elimination projects already have been developed and could be implemented over the next 20 years, costing an estimated $55,522,875. 

A project timeline has yet to be set. 

The town also reviewed on-site sewage treatment and disposal system enhancement projects, which would convert these systems to nutrient removal systems, totaling about $16,182 million. 

While Mayor Shane Taylor and Commissioner Kris Keller were concerned with the cost, Parker reminded them of DEP funding opportunities.