Summer Sea
Condominium
88500 Overseas Highway
Village of Islamorada
Tavernier, FL 33070
SumSea@Bellsouth.net
(305) 852-9559
Minutes  March 8th, 2008  Notice & Schedule
Posted 2/20/08
When is a Permit Required?
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         Status of Waste Water Permit and Upgrade to Our Package Plant

looming on the horizon.  Chapter 99-935 Laws of Florida state in Sec. 6 (4):  Existing sewage facilities that discharge
to other than surface waters and existing onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems shall cease discharge or
shall comply with the applicable treatment requirements of subsection (6) by July 1, 2010, (emphasis mine) and
with the rules of the Department of Environmental Protection or the Department of Health, as applicable.

Our permit expires July 23, 2008 and, as required by law, renewal has already been applied for by Glen Boe and
associates.  They have already received a Request for Additional Information (RAI) from FDEP that does not
specifically ask us how we intend to comply with the 2010 standards, but there will be verbiage in the new permit
stating to the effect that modifications to our plant will be required to meet the 2010 standards.

Currently, the Village of Islamorada has no plan in place to provide relief or sewage treatment to us or any other
package plant within the Village so we are all in the same boat.  As Futura Condominium is in the same boat with us
and their package plant is in close proximity to ours, I recommend that we pursue solving our problem together.

I spoke with Sean Kirwan from Glen Boe, who is handling both our permit renewal and will most likely be handling
Futura’s in the fall.  He agreed that it would be much more cost effective to jointly pursue this.  Currently, neither of our
plants will meet Class III reliability which will be required as well as the nutrient removal that is at the crux of the 2010
standards.  If there continues to be no action taken by the Village, it most likely will be more cost effective to put in one
new package plant that will meet both the 2010 standards and the needs of both condominiums.  At today’s prices, a
plant sized to meet both our needs will cost around $350,000 to $400,000.  The engineering and design will be around
$10,000.  Treatment costs will also increase as additional chemicals will be needed and the operator will be required to
spend one hour per day, 5 days per week instead of the current ½ hour per day.  A plant sized to fit just our needs will
run around $250,000 not including construction costs, with the engineering costs and increased treatment costs being
essentially the same.  

There is a small possibility that temporary modifications to our existing plant may be allowed that might meet the 2010
standards until such time as the Village provides a force main for us to tie into.  The Village will have to be aggressive
in their planning if this option is to be viable.

After my discussion with Sean Kirwan and the information that has been available to the Water Quality Advisory Board
for the Village, my recommendation is that we hold off on a special assessment at this time and open a dialogue with
Futura to pursue resolving our dilemma together.  There is a strong likelihood that an assessment may be needed
before the end of the year to begin the engineering and design phase.  At the very least we must plan to budget for a
reserve account dedicated to wastewater.  Even is we can get by with the temporary modifications, we are looking at a
significant hit in 2009.  We must prepare for it.

Respectfully Submitted

Kathy Ward