5/31/1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Since the assignment, Village Green has experienced major water problems. These problems stem from high consumption demands 'on the system, broken pumps, and/or broken lines. Staff memorandums and letters of compliance are attached hereto. These problems have been corrected within one or two weeks after notification, only to reoccur soon thereafter. The most recent incident began April 11, 1988, when the park manager, Richard Bass, telephoned our office informing staff of high service pump problems. The problem necessitated the disconnection of water to the residents. When water began flowing, a high level of.salinity was reported by staff environmental specialist, John Lang. Under staffs direction the park manager issued the attached notice to the residents. Staff notified the Department of Environmental Regulations and Envionmental Health of the problem. Mr. Bass informed staff of repairs being made to the pump and that the problem should be corrected within two weeks time. On April 28, 1988, the high service pump still was experiencing problems and staff mailed a compliance letter to Mr. Tom Merrell of the Wilder Corporation expressing deep concern with regard to the water problem. The letter stated a compliance date in writing no later than May 10, 1988, as required by Resolution 73-82. Staff received a letter from Wilder Corporation on May 12, 1988, attached reto. On May 13, 1988, staff received approximately ten telephone calls from residents in the park advising that the water had been off since 9:00 am. Telephone calls continued throughout the day and each call was identical to the first. ANALYSIS Section 7, paragraph 1, of franchise Resolution 73-82 states, "The Owner shall maintain and operate its plant and system and render efficient service in accordance with the rules and regulations as are or may be set forth by the Board from time to time. Additionally, the Owner shall comply with all requirements of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Division of Health, the Department of Pollution Control, the Indian River County Utilities Department, and appropriate planning agencies relative to construction, design, operation, capacity, maintenance, and expansion. The right is hereby reserved to the County to adopt, in addition to the provisions herein contained and existing applicable resolutions or laws, such additional regulations as it shall find necessary in the exercise of the police of power and lawful authority vested in said County, provided that such regulations shall be reasonable and not in conflict with.the rights herein granted and not in conflict with the laws of the State of Florida." Furthermore, Section 19, paragraph 1, states, "If the Owner fails to remedy such deficiency or default within the time required by the notice from the Board, the Board may thereafter schedule a hearing concerning the same with reasonable notice thereof to the Owner and after such hearing at which all interested parties shall be heard, the Board may further limit or restrict this franchise or may terminate and cancel the same in whole or in part if proper reasons therefore are found by the Board. RECOMMENDATION Staff feels every effort' of cooperation has been taken with the owners to correct the continuing water.problem: Staff has shown evidence of unsafe drinking water as provided by the Heatlh Department, service problems, and compliance correspondences to and from the park owners. Staff feels the water outages and poor quality has caused unnecessary suffering to the park residents for approximately eight weeks. Staff believes enough time has lapsed for all the problems in the park to be resolved and at this time we ask the County Attorney to expand on the legal aspect of Resolution 73-82 and for the Board of County Commissioners to further direct staff in an effort to resolve this needless problem. 47 mor 72 lrnr 452