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Background On March 8, 2016, the Board of County Commissioners directed the Indian River County Department of Utilities Services (IRCDUS) to evaluate a countywide septic to sewer conversion plan based on a phased approach, as follows: • Phase I: Develop a comprehensive priority ranking plan along with cost estimates for potential projects • Phase II: Incorporate the ranking plan into the county comprehensive plan • Phase III: Identify financing options and public outreach • Phase IV: Encumber funds and implement priority projects On July 18, 2017 the Board reviewed and approved a countywide septic to sewer conversion evaluation/ranking report prepared for the county by Schulke, Bittle & Stoddard, LLC. That report met the requirements of Phase I of the county's overall septic to sewer plan and included a review and ranking of 325 subdivisions served by septic systems, identification of a top 35 list of those subdivisions with the highest impact on the Indian River Lagoon, and an Engineers Opinion of Probable Cost for a septic to sewer conversion project for each of the top 35 ranked subdivisions. Upon approval of the countywide septic to sewer conversion evaluation/ranking report (completion of Phase I), the Board directed Community Development Department staff to initiate Phase II to incorporate the findings of the report into the Sanitary Sewer Sub -Element of the comprehensive plan. Consistent with that Board direction, Community Development Department staff coordinated with IRCDUS staff and Florida Department of Health in Indian River County (DOH — Indian River) staff and prepared the attached proposed amendments to the Sanitary Sewer Sub -Element of the county's comprehensive plan and parallel amendments to the Future Land Use Element of the county's comprehensive plan (Attachment 6). In those attachments, proposed changes are shown with se- thfu and underline format. The amendments involve changing target dates for policy completion, deleting out of date text and policies, removing/revising out-of-date references, adding new policies and text based on the recently adopted septic to sewer ranking plan, and updating maps.and tables. ANALYSIS Pursuant to the Board's direction and requests from county departments/divisions, 20 policies, 3 objectives, and various texts and maps of non -policy sections of the Sanitary Sewer Sub -Element of the county's comprehensive plan are proposed to be revised. Related parallel minor edits to the text and 2 policies are proposed in the Future Land Use Element of the county's comprehensive plan. Many of the proposed text updates relate to removing/updating out-of-date references, adding clarification through re -wording, and adding additional detail to bring both the Sanitary Sewer Sub - Element and Future Land Use Element up-to-date. With respect to the Board's direction related to septic systems and septic to sewer conversion, extensive updates have been made to the "Septic Systems" subsection of the Sanitary Sewer Sub -Element. That text begins on page 19 with a review of recent statistics on septic systems, a description of how a septic system operates, maintenance issues, and design requirements for septic systems. That sub -section ends with a review of the recently completed Septic to Sewer study and the results of that study, including the list of the top 35 subdivisions served by septic systems and having a highly ranked priority for septic to sewer conversion. 128 3