Through efforts to foster transparency and community involvement, the city of Groveland is actively answering the questions residents are asking, ensuring their voices are heard and addressed.
Water Meters
During the utility master planning process, 2020-22, the City identified more than 5000 aged meters as candidates for a mass replacement project. All of these meters are from a Sensus, which the City has opted to phase out. The City has been doing business with Neptune for seven years, and has proven to offer a much more dependable meter and the company has provided a much higher level of support of the City’s needs.
The utility master planning phase led to a project to change out approximately 5000 Sensus meters and replace them with Neptune meters equipped with AMI technology (Advanced Metering Infrastructure). The AMI project will enable the City to read meter usage data in real time, vastly improving the utility billing process, which currently includes meter reading from a truck or manual reads when the truck reading does not work. This project was identified as an existing need with the investment costs to be borne by existing customers. The project was engineered/designed from 2022-24. A contractor, Ferguson, has been competitively selected to execute the project, which includes the meter change outs as well as radio frequency tower infrastructure throughout the city. The project cost and associated low-interest loan amount were incorporated into the utility rate study.
As a separate factor from the rate structure, many of the new meters will be replacing old meters that have been underperforming or not providing readings. The City normally replaces a small percentage of meters each month once identified as problematic. However, the aging Sensus meters are beginning to fail at a rate at which current staffing cannot address. The City is relying on the pending notice to proceed to Ferguson to address the more than a thousand meters currently identified as problematic or failing. Those thousand meters will be prioritized as Ferguson begins changing out the approximately 5000 Sensus meters. Ferguson is anticipated to be mobilized and performing work by May.
Water meters do not speed up over time, they wear down and read more slowly over time. Eventually they stop reading altogether. Changing out such a substantial number of meters within 18 months will result in a portion of customers experiencing billing charges for their actual usage, which may not have been occurring for a period leading up until the replacement project. For example, with no reading, the customer may be charged only a base rate that month for simply being connected to the City’s systems.
It is for this reason the comment was made that some customers’ bills may increase. New meters will ensure the City is charging for actual water usage. There is a percentage of older meters that are not reading usage properly. It is important to the City’s financial sustainability to ensure that the City is fairly charging our customers for actual usage. This massive AMI meter replacement project will support that goal.
Lexington Village Pilot Parking Project
This project was originally approved by resolution of the City Council in 2023 to address one of the more problematic neighborhoods within Groveland pertaining to on-street parking. Lexington Village was built in the early 2000s with a street width less than the now-required width of 24 feet. The streets within Lexington Village are only 18 feet wide from curb to curb. Without a parking restriction, vehicles have historically parked on both sides of the street, sometimes preventing the passage of through vehicles, including school buses and emergency vehicles. The primary driver behind the pilot project is public safety.
Unfortunately, miscommunication with the contractor last year resulted in an early phase of the pilot project being stopped and reevaluated. The original concept was to paint parallel parking stalls to indicate where vehicles would be allowed to park. The contractor had only completed a portion of the neighborhood when the project was stopped. It was determined that the stalls striped on the street conflicted with some mailboxes. This was inadvertent as it was originally anticipated mailboxes could be moved. That was determined to not be an option and the pilot project was reassessed with a new concept.
The project initiated this week is a result of that reevaluation. The project is supported by City Code, which supports a prohibition of street parking to one side of the street. It was determined that parking would be restricted on the Lexington Village streets on the side of the street with fire hydrants. The erroneous striping from last year was removed. There was absolutely no concrete work done as part of this project. There was only minor striping and a series of parking restriction signs placed throughout the community. This was a low cost/high impact safety project.
With this being a pilot project, City personnel will continue to evaluate the efficacy of the project. This will be in conjunction with Transportation & Public Works as well as Public Safety and Communications. This project was initiated with communications with the HOA leadership. If it is determined that the parking restriction to one side of the street meets the primary goal of public safety, this approach could be – not shall be – utilized for other neighborhoods that have on-street parking concerns. Staff will review the results of the pilot parking project with the City Council prior to initiating any similar restrictions in additional neighborhoods. The pilot parking project was executed with funds budgeted in the City’s Streets Division budget of Transportation & Public Works for streets improvements including safety. It was characterized as a pilot project as it was understood and anticipated that the project could evolve and change based on evaluation.
Telecommunications Contractor- Bluestreak
Work of any kind by any utilities entity within the City of Groveland right of way is subject to a ROW Utilization Permit. BlueStreak on behalf of AT&T did secure the proper permitting to begin work. This was in no way a City-sponsored project nor was any of the work initiated on behalf of the City. Telecommunications companies have a right to utilize publicly dedicated right of way as well as recorded utility easements to place infrastructure such as fiber optic. They are subject to a permit and must meet the terms of the permit.
A stop work order was issued to the contractor in early February following several unanticipated utility interruptions including one water main break that did result in a single boil water advisory that affected 10 homes for approximately 48 hours before it was lifted with no negative results other than the need to flush potential sediment throughout portions of the City’s water system affecting several neighborhoods around South Lake High School. City of Groveland has added multiple conditions to this contractor’s permit as the stop work order has now been lifted. This is following a multiweek stoppage while they documented how the company will correct deficiencies and proactively communicate activities.
One point of confusion for some residents that have experienced work by this contractor in front of their homes is that the contractor is utilizing not only the public right of way under the jurisdiction of the City of Groveland, they are also utilizing the adjacent and parallel 10-foot utility easements often adjacent to sidewalks. This has given the appearance of affecting residents’ lawns. This concern is understandable as the 10-foot-wide utility easement is typically recorded with each lot.
Water Quality
To reiterate in response to any concerns about discolored water, the City of Groveland has no issues with water quality. The City meets testing requirements throughout the year and, as required, provides an annual Water Quality Report every June. Any recent concerns have predominantly been related to the required flushing of water lines and mains to meet compliance requirements with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The flushing can result in a temporary discoloration that is typically dissipated in a matter of minutes by simply running a faucet or spigot. This flushing is supportive of maintaining a healthy water system.
