Plans to get Water in an Emergency in Lehigh Acres, Raise New Questions from some Customers
Plans to get Water in an Emergency in Lehigh Acres, Raise New Questions from some Customers
January 18, 2006
By Mike Walcher
Lehigh Acres, Fl. -
The Lehigh Acres water utility has a plan to set in place a back-up system to get water in an emergency. But some critics of the system are making new charges about the utility's true motives.
"The guys with the gold make the rules, and that is happening here with our water utility," claims Jim Fleming of Lehigh. "The utility has over-promised water to developers who have permits to build homes. Now the utility is scrambling to find water, to make good on those promises. I wish they would just come out and admit it."
"I don't know where he is getting his information from," replies David Miles, who represents Florida Governmental Utility Authority (FGUA), that serves 12-thosuand water customers in Lehigh Acres. "The fact is, we just want an emergency back-up system..a pipeline to connect with the city of Fort Myers. They could supply us with water in a crisis, and we could supply them with water if needed."
The utility wants to spend 1.1 million dollars to install the pipeline to inter-connect with Ft. Myers utilities. Miles says the water exchange -- 500-thousand gallons a day -- or about 1/4 of the average daily use of water in Lehigh -- would kick in if a major flood or hurricane wrecked water lines in either community.
FGUA took over an old system from Fl. Water Services just over 2 years ago, and Miles says they have been aggressively budgeting to upgrade and expand the system. "We will ensure that the people of Lehigh will never run out of water," he told WINK News.
Still, a group of citizens in Lehigh remains suspicious of most of the things the utility does. One resident has even set up a web-site to serve as a "watchdog" on FGUA in Lehigh.
Miles says the governing boards of the two utilities will try to approve the inter-local agreement by the end of February.
January 18, 2006
By Mike Walcher
Lehigh Acres, Fl. -
The Lehigh Acres water utility has a plan to set in place a back-up system to get water in an emergency. But some critics of the system are making new charges about the utility's true motives.
"The guys with the gold make the rules, and that is happening here with our water utility," claims Jim Fleming of Lehigh. "The utility has over-promised water to developers who have permits to build homes. Now the utility is scrambling to find water, to make good on those promises. I wish they would just come out and admit it."
"I don't know where he is getting his information from," replies David Miles, who represents Florida Governmental Utility Authority (FGUA), that serves 12-thosuand water customers in Lehigh Acres. "The fact is, we just want an emergency back-up system..a pipeline to connect with the city of Fort Myers. They could supply us with water in a crisis, and we could supply them with water if needed."
The utility wants to spend 1.1 million dollars to install the pipeline to inter-connect with Ft. Myers utilities. Miles says the water exchange -- 500-thousand gallons a day -- or about 1/4 of the average daily use of water in Lehigh -- would kick in if a major flood or hurricane wrecked water lines in either community.
FGUA took over an old system from Fl. Water Services just over 2 years ago, and Miles says they have been aggressively budgeting to upgrade and expand the system. "We will ensure that the people of Lehigh will never run out of water," he told WINK News.
Still, a group of citizens in Lehigh remains suspicious of most of the things the utility does. One resident has even set up a web-site to serve as a "watchdog" on FGUA in Lehigh.
Miles says the governing boards of the two utilities will try to approve the inter-local agreement by the end of February.
posted by Editor Facts & Myths @ 8:29 PM
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