BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Starke is moving forward with a less costly plan to run sewer lines out to the bypass, as well as seek funds from developers to help with the investment.
The city asked Woodward and Curran to evaluate alternatives to extending wastewater service west down State Road 16 (Raiford Road) to serve a forthcoming multiuse development expected to consist of hundreds of homes and commercial space.
The city has also committed to getting drinking water out to the development.
The first alternative presented by Justin deMello, professional engineer and vice president at Woodward and Curran, involved running 12-inch force main down Raiford Road, upsizing mains on Weldon Road and Todd Road, and upsizing or replacing the Saratoga Heights lift station, which would pump the wastewater through new 12-inch lines to the treatment plant. With a total force main extension of 22,500 linear feet, deMello called it a “very big project.” It would also replace recently completed work on Weldon and Todd roads in 2024.
“We just upsized those pipes to what they are, but in order to accommodate development to the north or further out and going that direction through Saratoga, it would require those pipes to be replaced and upsized again because of the size of the development potential out at the bypass,” he said.
The estimated cost is between $8 and $11.8 million, which includes money for design, permitting, construction, administration and $2 million in contingency just in case. Money is also built in to cover the search for supplemental funding and legal costs.
The second alternative runs down Raiford Road to Orange Street via Weldon, which provides a more direct route to the treatment plant. It allows the reuse of previous investments, deMello said, and rehabilitation of the Saratoga Heights lift station instead of replacement. That alone cuts $1 million from the project.
“Instead of upgrading it and making it bigger and making it kind of the central cog that moves wastewater further, you’re now able to just rehabilitate it and then use the same force main down Todd and pump it back the other direction. And then it allows you to abandon the 1950s force main that is from Saratoga back to the treatment plant that runs through neighborhoods and 30 years of tree growth easements. It was a very difficult route to run the Saratoga heights force main back to the treatment plant,” he said.
This plan reduces linear footage to 16,175 and cuts the cost to $8.26 million. Disruption to Orange Street, which has been recently paved, would be avoided with directional drilling, which would also be required at the railroad crossing.
This would be the preferred alternative, deMello said. Moving forward with the design would require amending the city’s memorandum of understating with the county. The county has supported the project, committing $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding. Starke has also received a total of $4.5 million in funding from the legislature to extend water and wastewater lines to the bypass.
The city will also need to secure additional funding through grants and other alternatives, as well as through developer agreements.
“How do you guys help contribute to this partnership as well? We’re extending utilities. We’re building, upgrading force mains. We’re upgrading lift stations. Help us help you, right? So having those discussions as well,” he said.
The time frame for the wastewater project is 12 months for design and 12 months for construction, and the project could be split into two phases, with construction down S.R. 16 taking place alongside the installation of new drinking water lines.
