1992-04-02 Morell to BOCC MICHAEL WM. MORELL
ATTORNEY AT LAW
310 WEST COLLEGE AVENUE
ADMINISTRATIVE AND GOVERNMENTAL LAW TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301-1406 ALSO ADMITTED IN THE
ENVIRONMENTAL AND LAND USE LAW DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
(904) 425-8300
(904) 425-8301 FACSIMILE
April 2, 1992
Hand Delivered
Honorable Charles W. Harvey
Chairman, Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners
304 N.W. 2nd Street, Room 106
Okeechobee, Florida 34972
Re: Comments and Recommendations from the City of Okeechobee
regarding the Okeechobee County Comprehensive Plan
Dear Chairman Harvey:
Pursuant to Section 163.3184, Florida Statutes, the following
comments and recommendations are provided on behalf of the City of
Okeechobee ( "City" ) to the Okeechobee County Comprehensive Plan
( "Plan" ) .
In the course of its review of the County' s Plan, it was
obvious to the City that a tremendous amount of work has gone into
the preparation of the County' s Comprehensive Plan. The Board of
County Commissioners, its staff and consultants are to be commended
for their dedication and effort to develop a plan designed to meet
the needs of the citizens of Okeechobee County and be found by the
Department of Community Affairs ( "DCA" ) to be in compliance with
Florida' s Growth Management Law.
The City' s comments and recommendations relate principally to
emphasizing the need to clarify and strengthen Plan provisions in
the Sanitary Sewer and the Potable Water Sub-Elements regarding
coordination and cooperation between the City and County. The City
has reviewed the following documents regarding these two Plan Sub-
elements: ( 1 ) the County' s Proposed Plan and Data & Analysis; (2 )
the Objections, Recommendations and Comments Report ( "ORC Report" )
of DCA; ( 3 ) the County' s Response to the ORC; and ( 4) revisions to
the Proposed Plan and Data & Analysis.
Honorable Charles W. Harvey
April 2, 1992
Page Two
RECOMMENDATION #1 : The Plan should be revised to contain an
objective which expressly commits Okeechobee County to
coordinate with the City of Okeechobee concerning the
extension and expansion of sanitary sewer and potable water
facilities in the unincorporated areas of the County.
The DCA objected that the proposed plan did not contain
objectives for coordinating the extension and expansion of capacity
of sewer and potable water facilities with the City. (See ORC
Report, Sanitary Sewer Sub-element Objection 10 at page 43 and
Potable Water Sub-element Objection 5 at page 54. ) In its Response
to the ORC Report, the County states that it has satisfied these
objections with new language in Objective 3 which states in part:
"Okeechobee County shall coordinate with providers of public supply
potable water and sanitary sewer facilities. . . "
The new language in Objective 3 is not responsive to the
Department ' s objection and accompanying recommendation to expressly
include a reference to coordination with the City of Okeechobee.
Such an express reference to coordination with the City is
necessary in view of the Plan' s broad definition of the terms
"public supply water system" and "public sanitary sewer facilities"
as including "privately owned facilities serving as few as 15
service connections or 25 residents". Therefore, the City
recommends that the County revise Objective 3 as follows:
Okeechobee County shall coordinate with the City of
Okeechobee and other appropriate state or regional
agencies and affected providers of public supply potable
water and sanitary sewer facilities to: maximize the use
of existing facilities; coordinate the extension of
facilities and expansion of capacity to serve
unincorporated areas of the County consistent with the
plans and service areas of existing providers; and
encourage efficient patterns of development while
discouraging urban sprawl.
RECOMMENDATION #2: The Plan should be revised to identify the
geographic service areas served by the sanitary sewer and
potable water facilities owned and operated by the City of
Okeechobee.
In DCA' s ORC Report, the Department objected that the proposed
plan did not identify the geographic service areas served by the
sanitary sewer and potable water facilities owned and operated by
the City. (See ORC Report, Sanitary Sewer Sub-element Objection 2
at page 40 and Potable Water Sub-element Objection 2 at page 53. )
Honorable Charles W. Harvey
April 2, 1992
Page Three
The County' s Response to the ORC refers to Maps 4.1 and 4.3 as
satisfying these particular objections. However, neither the plan
document dated March 19, 1992 or any of the documents provided to
the City by the County on April 1 , 1992 in response to the City's
public records request contain the referenced maps or any
documentation which identifies the City' s geographic service areas.
The City believes that duplicative or competitive water and
sewer utility service in a specified geographic area should be
discouraged because of the obvious inefficiencies inherent in
having two or more utilities provide the same service in the same
territory. Therefore, the City recommends that the adopted plan
identify and include the City' s service areas and boundary maps.
Recommendation #3: The Plan's policies concerning whether the
County should establish a regional utility authority, begin
its own program to own and operate a sanitary sewer and
potable water system or emphasize expansion of the existing
City system should commit the County to making the most
economically feasible decision.
The Data & Analysis for the Capital Improvement Element states
that the County does not own or operate sanitary sewer or potable
water facilities. However, in the Sanitary Sewer and Potable Water
Sub-elements, the County appears to adopt a strategy for evaluating
the feasibility of establishing such a system. Policy S3.2 of the
Plan' s Potable Water and Sanitary Sewer Sub-elements provides:
Okeechobee County shall continue working with the City of
Okeechobee to evaluate the feasibility of establishing a
utility authority which would be responsible for meeting
the potable water and sanitary sewer needs of southern
Okeechobee County. Feasibility shall be determined
through ongoing discussions with the City, as well with
assistance from the Florida Department of Environmental
Regulation and the South Florida Water Management
District and ongoing potable water and sanitary sewer
studies. If determined to be feasible, the utility
authority shall incorporate existing service areas and
coordinate the expansion of facilities,including
requiring that septic tanks along Lake Okeechobee and
Taylor Creek be replaced by connection to existing or
expanded public supply sewage treatment facilities .
Honorable Charles W. Harvey
April 2, 1992
Page Four
In DCA' s ORC Report, the Department objected in part to the
County' s strategy in the Plan for evaluating whether it should own
or operate its own water and sewer utility systems. The Department
noted that although the County has recently received a grant to
conduct feasibility and preliminary engineering studies for
providing sanitary sewer service, the Plan does not include an
analysis of either the preliminary studies or problems of new
facility siting the County may encounter in the event the County
determines that it is feasible to own or operate its own sanitary
sewer and potable water system. (See ORC Report, Sanitary Sewer
Sub-element Objection 8 at page 42. ) The Department recommended
that the Plan include an analysis which identifies both problems
and opportunities that the County would face in siting new
facilities associated with owning and operating its own sanitary
sewer and potable water system. The Department further recommended
that the analysis include a discussion of studies associated with
the legislative grant and the identification of activities, action
or programs which the County is undertaking to implement the study.
The County ' s Response to this particular objection states that
"Expansion of the sewer system is the responsibility of the City of
Okeechobee, not Okeechobee County. "
The City believes that, consistent with Recommendations #1 and
#2 above that there be more coordination and cooperation between
the County and City regarding the extension and expansion of the
City' s existing sanitary sewer and potable water system to serve
residents in the unincorporated areas, the County' s decision
regarding whether to establish a regional utility authority, start
its own utility system or emphasize extension or expansion of the
City' s existing system should be based on "a maximum economically
feasibility" standard. Accordingly, the City recommends that in
addition to including the Department' s recommended facility siting
analyses in the Plan, Policy S3.2 should be revised as follows :
Okeechobee County shall continue working with the City of
Okeechobee to evaluate the maximum economically feasible
method for providing safe, sufficient and efficient
potable water and sanitary sewer service to the residents
of Southern Okeechobee County. Maximum economic
feasibility shall be determined through ongoing
discussions with the City, as well as with assistance
from the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation
and the South Florida Water Management District and
ongoing potable water and sanitary sewer studies. If
determined to be the most economically feasible method of
providing such service, the utility authority shall
incorporate existing service areas and coordinate the
expansion of facilities, including requiring that septic
tanks along Lake Okeechobee and Taylor Creek be replaced
Honorable Charles W. Harvey
April 2, 1992
Page Five
by connection to existing or expanded public supply
sewage treatment facilities.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide these comments and
recommendations to the Okeechobee County Comprehensive Plan.
Sincerely,
hALS Witt.oltaiQ
Michael Wm. Morell
Special Counsel to the
City of Okeechobee
MWM:mm
cc. Members, Okeechobee Board of County Commissioners
David J. Rivera, Finance Director and Acting County Manager
John D. Cassels, Jr. , County Attorney
Bill Miller, Planning Consultant
Tony Arrant, Department of Community Affairs
John Drago, City Administrator