- October 30, 2024
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Flagler County has run the Plantation Bay water utility for years, and in that time the water has been discolored and odorous, prompting regular complaints from residents. Now, Flagler County will no longer manage the utility — and may try to divest of it entirely.
"The week before they took over management, I would not have been comfortable bathing in the water. Two weeks after they took over the management, I don't hesitate to drink it."
— JERRY CAMERON, Flagler County administrator
The County Commission during its Dec. 16 meeting approved an agreement to have the Florida Governmental Utility Authority run the Plantation Bay utility, at least for two months.
The agreement is an interim agreement that could potentially precede a permanent one.
A county staff document refers to the agreement as a "first step in working towards divesting Flagler County from being a utility provider," and part of a series of agreements needed for the FGUA to provide water and wastewater services in Plantation Bay, Eagle Lakes and Beverly Beach.
County Administrator Jerry Cameron told commissioners during the meeting that he had invited the FGUA to operate the ailing utility on a trial basis for several weeks, after he'd consulted with FGUA experts about its problems and felt they'd provided definitive answers.
"They have given me the most thorough and correct explanations of what's going on there and what it takes to fix it," he said.
The FGUA was formed through an interlocal agreement between Brevard, Lee, Polk and Sarasota counties in 1999, and now manages over 80 systems in 13 counties, according to its website.
Under its leadership, the water quality at Plantation Bay quickly improved, prompting Cameron to enter into discussion with FGUA about the possibility of FGUA taking over management of the facility permanently.
"The expertise that they provide achieved amazing results," Cameron said. "The week before they took over management, I would not have been comfortable bathing in the water. Two weeks after they took over the management, I don't hesitate to drink it."
While FGUA runs the facility, the county will look into the possibility of divesting from the utility.
That could be difficult because it took on debt to buy the facility, first buying it for $5.5 million in a joint purchase with the city of Bunnell in 2013, then taking over it entirely in 2015.
Camron said he's been communicating with the Department of Environmental Protection and with the county's legislative delegation about possibilities for mitigating the debt load.
"If we can do that, it would be prudent in my opinion to turn the utility over to FGUA, because we have demonstrated over a long period of time that we really don’t have the expertise or the ability of running that utility in a way that benefits the community out there," Cameron said.
The structure of the FGUA means that the county can interact with it with greater ease than would be possible with a regular private entity, he added.
Commissioner Joe Mullins, whose district includes the Flagler County portion of Plantation Bay, was impressed by the changes in recent weeks.
"It has never ran and looked better than it looks right now," Mullins said.
Cameron noted that there are still some distribution problems related to valves that need locating and adjusting, and those are affecting water quality for some customers. That issue would be fixed under the interlocal agreement, he said.
The commission voted 5-0 to approved the agreement with the FGUA.
