County Commissioners have approved a wastewater expansion (Charlotte County Sewer Expansion) plan that will bring sewer service to about 15,000 homes on Mid-Charlotte County. The ten year, $200 million project will connect homes in the Spring Lake area and then move on to the section around the Ackerman and Countryman waterways.

Homes in the Spring Lake area should be connected to the Charlotte County Sewer Expansion by 2017. Homes between Edgewater and O’Hara Drives will be next. Over the next 20 years the county intends to have 60,000 properties on sewer service. Other priority areas for the Charlotte County Sewer Expansion include the US 41 commercial properties and nearby areas plus El Jobean, Harbour Heights and Harborview Road. Most of these areas are close to waterways and the harbor which can be adversely effected by poorly maintained septic tanks seeping into the clean waters.

Programs for sewers in the county have been in the works for years. The slow real estate market and economic down turn during the first decade of 2000 put a lot of those ideas on hold. Now, with new building permits on the increase, the commissioners decided that the time was right. Federal mandates have pushed the issue and the commissioners have used every available strategy to delay expenditure. Now they have little choice.

Connection costs for the Spring Lake area should go no higher than $10,000 while it is expected that the Edgewater/O’Hara area will increase to about $14,000.

For more information about Charlotte County Sewer Expansion: https://www.charlottecountyfl.gov/departments/utilities/sewer-master-plan.stml