Subject:
Title
Board direction regarding the request from Space Florida to connect to the Merritt Island (Sykes Creek) wastewater system and the participation of Space Florida and State Agencies in a regional Port St. John wastewater treatment facility and force main (District 1 & 2).
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Fiscal Impact:
To be determined
Dept/Office:
Utility Services Department
Requested Action:
Recommendation
Staff is requesting direction from the Board on the efforts associated with the request of Space Florida to connect to the Merritt Island Sykes Creek wastewater system and the participation of Space Florida, State Agencies and Brevard County related to a regional Port St. John wastewater treatment facility and related force main.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
Approximately six years ago, Brevard County was approached by several entities at the Kennedy Space Center / Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, including NASA and Space Florida regarding the ability to connect to the Merritt Island Sykes Creek wastewater system for additional treatment capacity. The Utilities Department was open to the concept. Minimal follow up, however, occurred between the interested entities to pursue this further until July 2024.
On August 13, 2024, Brevard County received a letter from Space Florida requesting the County’s support to connect to the Merritt Island Sykes Creek wastewater system (see Attachment A). In their request, Space Florida is seeking to add 300,000 gallons per day by 2027. This request for additional treatment capacity at the Merritt Island Sykes Creek treatment plant addresses short term needs of Space Florida. On August 16, 2024, the County responded as shown as Attachment B. In this response, we stated our willingness to work with Space Florida over the last six years and what steps need to be taken to move this initiative forward. These steps include: (1) an analysis of the ability of the existing collection system to support the additional flow proposed by Space Florida, over a projected 10 year period; (2) due diligence evaluating the quality of the waste stream produced by Space Florida and its compatibility with the Merritt Island Sykes Creek wastewater treatment plant; (3) discussion on the duration of diverting flow to the Merritt Island Sykes Creek wastewater treatment plant before the need of that capacity for current residential and commercial rate payers of Merritt Island due to future growth and septic-to-sewer connections. These steps will need to be completed to draft an agreement in order to include ownership, responsibilities, consequences, and a fee structure fair for Brevard County utility services rate payers.
Since August 2024, Brevard County and Space Florida have met monthly to discuss and move forward on the due diligence items outlined above. Efforts are on-going as data from Space Florida is still needed and technical evaluations are in progress by the county’s consultant under contract with the Utilities Department.
On October 28, 2024, Brevard County received a letter from the State of Florida (see Attachment C) requesting our cooperation in the implementation of Space Florida’s connection to the Merritt Island Sykes Creek wastewater system. On November 5, 2024, the County responded via letter (see Attachment D) to explain our continued support of the growth of Space Florida and our willingness to work with them. County staff focused on that working with Space Florida is defined by short- and long-term goals and objectives. The short-term needs and objectives summarizes much of what Utilities explained in the August 16, 2024, letter from the County to Space Florida, staff explained the need of the due diligence and defined it along with the need of an agreement that is fair for all parties. The long-term solution describes the commitment the County has made in pursuing a regional wastewater treatment plant where all wastewater flow from the Space Florida, Cape Canaveral SFS, and any other stakeholders have the ability to connect to and for the benefit of resiliency, environment, and consolidation of wastewater utilities at a mainland regional wastewater facility. As part of this commitment, the County, in partnership with the Economic Development Commission, secured a $750,000 grant from the Department of Defense to pursue such a study to evaluate and perform initial designs in the pursuit of a regional wastewater treatment plant in the vicinity of Port St John. In addition to the benefits mentioned above associated with Space Florida, this regional facility would be a replacement to the existing facility in Port St. John with added capacity and a much higher treatment quality. County Utilities recognizes the magnitude of such an initiative and received approval from the Board at the August 6, 2024, Regular Board meeting to contribute an additional $1.717M for funding by the Utility Services Department. A draft Request for Qualifications is under review and will be advertised seeking an engineering firm to conduct the due diligence, short-term and long-term, analysis required with a target completion date no later than May 2026.
In summary, Brevard County and Space Florida are in ongoing discussions to perform the due diligence required to move these initiatives forward. These actions will help determine and the need the level of investments needed to accommodate the current and future treatment capacity which Space Florida is seeking.
County staff is seeking Board input and direction at this point. County staff’s current position is that any short-term investments needed must be paid wholly by Space Florida and / or other partners in addition to any service and rate fees for fair compensation. The County is also seeking a commitment from Space Florida to contribute their proportionate share of: (1) the cost of transferring wastewater flows from Kennedy Space Center to a new regional facility located in Port St. John; (2) the cost of construction for the capacity that will be utilized in the near term by Space Florida at the Merritt Island Sykes Creek facility; (3) any additional capacity construction costs that are associated with additional future capacity for Space Florida at the new Port St. John Regional facility.
Attachment A - Letter from Space Florida to Brevard County dated August 13, 2024.
Attachment B - Response from Brevard County dated August 16, 2024, to Attachment A letter.
Attachment C - Letter from State of Florida to Brevard County dated October 28, 2024.
Attachment D - Response from Brevard County dated November 5, 2024, to Attachment C.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
Please email the Clerk’s memo to karina.perez@brevardfl.gov and mail the original to the Utility Services Department.