The Town of Oakland is proud to announce that $500,000 has been earmarked in the 2021-22 State of Florida budget for the Oakland South Lake Apopka Initiative.
The state funding will help pay for the design and construction of the Jefferson Street Wastewater Extension portion of the project. This critical north-south connection will help protect Lake Apopka for future generations by providing sanitary sewer access to existing housing and future residential development.
“The Town Commission has demonstrated its commitment to protecting the environment by eliminating septic systems in an ongoing effort to protect our precious environment,” said Mayor Kathy Stark. “I would like to extend my most sincere thanks to Sen. Randolph Bracy and Rep. Geraldine Thompson for their valued support of this important project.”
The wastewater system project will eventually serve the entire town by greatly enhancing business opportunities along the State Road 50 corridor and leading to the creation of an estimated 5,000 jobs.
Over the past nine years, the Town of Oakland has made significant progress in providing an alternative wastewater disposal method to the long-standing dependence on septic tank systems.
“Elimination, or reduction, of septic systems is vital to the health and safety of our precious environment and to the people of Florida,” said Town Manager Steven Koontz. “This Legislative assistance will be leveraged with our local resources and allow us to continue with this important regional sanitary sewer initiative.”
Legislative assistance to the Town of Oakland’s sewer initiative is critical to successfully protect an important springshed and several affected water bodies in the West Central Florida area. Since the initiative was undertaken, the Town has identified and leveraged varying sources of funding including internal and state resources, and developer contributions. Between 2013 and 2020, approximately $7.5 million was committed to construction of the improvements.
