The Plant City City Commission approved more resolutions on Aug. 22 as the city approaches a new fiscal year starting on Oct. 1.
Palmetto Plant City-Colson Road easement
The city commission approved the easements from Palmetto Plant City-Colson Road LLC, for the backflow preventer assemblies, meter maintenance, and for lift station ingress and egress.
The approval also authorizes the city clerk to record the easements and mortgage subordination on behalf of the city to maintain the water backflow preventer assembly (BPA) and meter.
The City of Plant City Utilities Department maintains the backflow preventer assemblies and the meters throughout the city.
A new BPA and meters were built for Palmetto Plant City-Colson Road, LLC, located at 102 Colson Rd.
An easement for the maintenance of the new BPAs and meters has been deeded to the city. The city’s utilities department will be responsible for the upkeep of the new facilities within the easement.
The existing lift station easement does not cover the complete extent of the city’s lift station driveway because of the most recent development within the property. The ingress and egress easement for the lift station driveway has been deeded to the city from Palmetto Plant City-Colson Road LLC to cover the limits of the driveway.
Both the BPA and the meter will be added to the inventory for the utilities department and will be included in the maintenance program.
TA Fancy Farms, LLC, easement
Another resolution that was put in place was the easement from TA Fancy Farms, LLC, to maintain meters and backflow preventer assemblies.
The city clerk will also record the easement on behalf of the city to maintain the meters and BPAs.
The new meters and BPAs were constructed for TA Fancy Farms, LLC, located at 3607 Fancy Farms Rd. An easement for the maintenance of the new meters and BPAs has been deeded to the city. The utilities department will be maintaining these new facilities within the easement.
The meters and BPAs will be added to the inventory of the utilities department and will be included in the maintenance program.
Water, Sewer, and Stormwater Rate Studies
The city commission gave City Manager Bill McDaniel authorization to go through with an agreement with Ratfelis Financial Consultants, Inc., for water and sewer rate studies for $49,790, and a stormwater rate study for $38,720.
Rate studies that are legally defensible and technically supportable, are mandatory for the city utilities department in order to ensure the best service to Plant City residents.
The most recent rate studies for water and sewer utilities were conducted in 2018, and the most recent rate study for stormwater finished in 2003.
The Procurement Division published Request for Proposals (RFP), rate and impact fee studies on April 29. Four valid responses were received for the rate studies portion of work for the RFP submittal deadline, on May 26.
A fifth response was received but was determined by the Procurement Division to be non-responsive to the requirements for the RFP.
The staff evaluation committee convened on June 30 to review and score the responses. The committee includes Plant City Assistant City Manager Jack Holland; Chief Financial Officer Diane Reichard; Utilities Director Lynn Spivey; Solid Waste Director Jill Sessions; and Streets and Stormwater Director Wayne Everhart.
They ultimately chose Raftelis Financial Consultants for the project.