Rotarians and guests were warmly greeted by Maria Goldberg, Ray Jones and Scott Grissom.
President Jerry called the meeting to order and led all in the 4-Way Test. Bob Gaines then led all in attendance in the prayer and the pledge.
President Jerry congratulated several members with perfect attendance, totaling over 230 years of perfect attendance. President Jerry reminded all that the Ethics & Business Award will occur on Monday, May 5, 2008, and that there is no meeting on Tuesday, May 6, 2008, for our Club. The annual meeting will be conducted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, and there will be no luncheon meeting that day. There will be a night meeting. The Rotary family event will be conducted on Sunday, June 22, 2008, at the Pensacola Yacht Club.
President Jerry thanked Ed Wonders for his involvement with RYLA (the Rotary Youth Leadership Award). Ed Wonders spoke briefly about the RYLA event, which was conducted this year at Adventures Unlimited. Sixty-seven students were in attendance and thoroughly enjoyed the event.
The lottery of $74 was awarded to Susan O’Connor.
Grover Robinson led the group in sunshine, first by introducing and thanking our military guests (one from the Air Force and one from the Navy). He then introduced visiting Rotarians and guests and led the group in a hearty rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
President Jerry then introduced Ellis Bullock who introduced our speaker, Steve Sorrell, the Executive Director of the ECUA (Emerald Coast Utilities Authority). Steve Sorrell is an engineer who had years of experience in Ohio before coming to Pensacola in 2002 to work with the ECUA. He oversees the ECUA operations (with 550 employees), which deals with wastewater and solid wastes.
Steve Sorrell had warm words of thanks for Board member, Lois Benson, who had the foresight to first promote moving the treatment facility even before Hurricane Ivan prompted others to come on board. He also thanked his strong staff and other members of the Board who do an excellent job for our community.
Steve Sorrell then presented a PowerPoint presentation about ECUA and the construction phase of the new treatment facility. The new treatment facility will no longer rely on ultraviolet treatment but will use chlorine disinfection. This will allow 100% of the treated wastewater to be reused by Gulf Power and perhaps by others. Furthermore, the solids which remain after treatment can be used as AA fertilizer for agricultural purposes.
The new facility also will have additional room for storage such that “reject” storage can be recirculated and retreated. This is not possible now with the existing facility.
Furthermore, the new facility will use aerobic processes to treat the wastewater which will limit and significantly reduce any odor, which has been a continuing problem at the existing facility. The new facility will be constructed in such a manner to allow for almost unlimited expansion in the future. This will allow development in the northern part of Escambia County, as well as components of Santa Rosa County (if they should so choose) to utilize the new facility.
The new facility will be using AWT (Advanced Wastewater Treatment). This treatment results in water which is actually pure enough to drink. We learned that the drinking water in and around the Atlanta area has as its source wastewater which has been treated through the AWT process.
The cost of the new facility and demolition of the old facility will total at least $302 million (plus or minus 10%), as determined in 2007. Certain components of construction costs could cause the ultimate cost to be greater than the estimated $302 million. The cost of the new plant itself will be approximately $100 million.
The 25 miles of pipe and the pumping stations also will cost approximately $100 million. Because of the corrosive nature of the product to be pumped, significant amounts of stainless steel and concrete will be utilized. Metals other than stainless steel do not handle this type of corrosion well. In order to cut down on costs, the ECUA will construct its own temporary concrete plant to manufacture concrete for use in the construction process.
The timetable for the new facility is well underway. The design will be completed within the next two to three weeks, and permits are expected to be finalized within that same time period. Contracts are already out for bid, and the bidding process will be underway during the next few months. ECUA expects to spend between $10 to $15 million each month over the next several years for the construction of the new facility.
An additional significant cost of the new facility will be easement acquisition. Much of the pipeline will run along areas already subject to Gulf Power easements. The property is not owned by Gulf Power, however, so ECUA will need to obtain the right to place pipelines in this area using the power of eminent domain if necessary.
Groundbreaking will occur on April 11, 2008. The groundbreaking will not be at the location of the new facility, which is still undeveloped, but will be at the current facility. Construction is expected to last until spring of 2010. The start-up phase of the new facility will occur by June of 2010.
Permitting for this type of facility usually occurs over a period of 10 to 15 years. In our situation, this extended period of time has been reduced to only three years. Both FEMA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have cooperated tremendously with this project. A few permits remain, primarily from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but final word is expected very shortly. In particular, the FEMA environmental assessment, which was a significant undertaking, has been completed.
The administration building for the new facility will resemble an attractive brick schoolhouse. The building will contain a safe room, housing the controls for the facility, constructed to withstand the most significant storms and disasters. The entire building will be constructed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
The administration building will cost approximately $10 million and contain primary and secondary pumps with emergency generators for use in the event of loss of power. The building also will contain odor scrubbers such that there should be no odor from the product being treated.
The remaining hurdles for construction include capital costs and possibly increasing costs for certain components of construction such as concrete. Also, the final details of the design and permitting must be completed. The new facility will be constructed on property that is approximately 105 ft. above sea level, so there should be no risk of inundation by hurricane or floodwaters.
ECUA is committing a significant amount of time and effort to this project, but in addition, there are other projects underway to improve life for the users of ECUA services. These include updating meters to digital meters which can be read at a distance. The initial cost will be approximately $3 million, but there will be substantial savings in time and money in the future.
Steve Sorrell commented that the culture at ECUA is much more like a corporation rather than a government bureaucracy. ECUA does not rely on taxes but rather on revenues generated from its services. ECUA provides excellent services, and customer satisfaction is always quite high, ranging from 80% to 94% during a recent survey.
Steve Sorrell then answered questions regarding the facility. He confirmed that portions of Santa Rosa County could utilize the facility by paying impact fees, although Santa Rosa County has not contributed financially to the construction of the facility. In addition, the 18.8 acres on which the existing facility in downtown Pensacola is located will be cleared and will most likely be sold for private development.
President Jerry thanked Steve Sorrell for a very timely and detailed report and for providing the “straight poop” on this most important project. President Jerry then thanked all participants and reminded all in attendance that “Rotary shares.” The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:10 p.m.
David Stafford – April 16 – Pensacola, FL, 3 years
Ted Brown – April 16 – Pensacola, FL, 30 years
Edwin Roberts D.C. – April 17 – Pensacola, FL, 24 years
Mike Doman – April 17 – Pensacola, FL – 5 years
Scott Grissett – April 17 – Atmore, AL – 3/25/2008
Claudia Simmons – April 18 – Tallahassee, FL – 1 year
Keith Haynes – April 18 – Pensacola, Florida – less than 1 year
The Ethics in Business Award will be presented on Monday, May 5, 2008 at our Combined Rotary Clubs of Pensacola luncheon at New World Landing.