Council President proposes $100 million be dedicated to remove septic tanks

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville City Council President Tommy Hazouri announced Tuesday night during City Council that he filed legislation that would borrow $100 million to remove septic tanks.

This money would be used towards the five-year capital improvement project called “The Water/Wastewater System Fund”. The project currently has $15 million funded towards it over this current budget cycle and the next two budget cycle.

This money would be used outside of the current three projects JEA is working on in the Biltmore, Beverly Hills and Christobel neighborhoods.

“We haven’t done enough. The time for action is today, not yesterday. And it’s going to take a few years to get them all done because it’s a billion dollar project and we’ve got sixty thousand dilapidated septic tanks in Jacksonville,” Hazouri told WOKV.

In a 2018 report from the City of Jacksonville, there are an estimated 55,000 septic tanks within Duval County. The Council president said the Department of Public Works has a list of 35 areas in Duval County that the program will target.

Those neighborhoods included on that list are:

• Northlake
• The Cape
• Riverview
• Kinard
• Odessa
• Cedar River
• Lakeshore
• Ortega
• Westfield
• Champion Forest
• Eggleston Heights
• Mill Creek
• Empire Point
• Oakhaven
• Spring Glen
• Emerson
• Inwood Terrace/Freeman Road
• Point La Vista
• Oak Lawn
• Beauclerc Gardens
• Southside Estates
• Holly Oaks
• Lone Star Park
• Sans Peril
• Mt. Pleasant
• Pablo Point
• Atlantic Highlands
• Julington Hills
• Hood Landing II
• Julington Creek

“The health, safety and welfare of average citizens at risk when you have bad septic tanks and dilapidated septic tanks impacts our health, safety, welfare. It impacts our environment. It certainly seeps into the rivers, rivers and streams. And so it’s incumbent on us to start taking action and not talking the talk,” Hazouri said.

The legislation will be amending the budget and the CIP, and much like the Lot J bill, it will require 13 council members to vote in favor of the bill in order for it to pass.

The JEA project was a partnership with the City of Jacksonville to remove the septic tanks in three of Jacksonville’s Northwest neighborhoods. The Biltmore C Septic Tank Phaseout Project is currently on schedule. The Beverly Hills Septic Tank Phaseout Project currently only has 60 percent of it’s design completed. Construction in Beverly Hills West is forcasted to start in March 2021. The Christobel Proposed Septic Tank Phaseout Project has not started yet due to a lack of money.

JEA CEO Jay Stowe said in a Board meeting on January 28 that there isn’t enough money to continue to fund the program.

“Unfortunately, the money dedicated to the project from the city and JEA is not enough to fund all of these areas. I’ve asked JEA staff to work with city staff and revisit the septic tank phaseout plan and determine a viable plan for moving forward,” Stowe said.

Cox Media Group