Winter Springs approves $600,000 in emergency repairs to wastewater system

The Winter Springs City Commission approved nearly $600,000 in emergency repairs Monday for two wastewater projects – even as the city says it’s 90 days away from starting construction on a new wastewater treatment plant. 

The biggest repair will replace sand filters used at the East Wastewater Treatment Plant. Current filters have allowed too much solid material through, above the threshold to be used as reclaimed water. A significant portion of the city will not have reclaimed water for irrigation for at least the next three weeks while parts are ordered and repairs can be made.

The sub-standard water is being disposed of, rather than being pumped out to reclaimed systems. 

“We’re having to unfortunately spend some money to get us by for a couple more years,” said Scott Richards, an infrastructure design engineer with Carollo Engineers, a city consultant. “But that’s what we think is the best option at this point to get us to the finish line while the new plant is being constructed.” 

Winter Springs recently got $19 million in loans, with $9.5 million in loan forgiveness included, to start construction of a replacement wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater has been a contentious issue, with candidates for office running on water and wastewater issues, including current mayoral candidate Jesse Phillips. 

“Issues like this remind us how important it is for our city to stay ahead of infrastructure challenges instead of reacting after systems fail,” Phillips wrote in an email sent from the Winter Springs Community Association, which he cofounded. 

The city hired Woodard & Curran last year as the company in charge of operating its wastewater treatment plant. 

Commissioner Cade Resnick asked if the city was getting fined by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for disposing of the partially filtered water. Carollo clarified that currently, while the water doesn’t meet the quality standard for reclaimed water, it does meet the standard to be wasted. 

“We’re stuck on this disposal mode,” Richards said. “We’re within permit of what you can dispose of. If we fall out of that limit, we notify DEP.” 

Separately, the city also discovered that an above-ground support structure for a wastewater main pipe had also failed, leaving the pipe lying on the ground. Because the pipe is on the ground, it’s created a bow in the line – which could cause a spill.  

“If the pipe has a major failure it could cause flow to be directly diverted into Howell Creek,” utility staff wrote in a Feb. 26 document requesting the emergency funding. “If not repaired, it could lead to environmental impact and fines. Additionally, flow will not be maintained through the pipe resulting in septic conditions which adversely impact the treatment process at the East Wastewater Treatment Plant.”

The repair is estimated to cost $274,368, which is above the $50,000 threshold requiring the City Commission to approve the expenditure. 

Winter Springs is already pulling about 6% more water from the ground than it’s allowed to pull by the St. Johns River Water Management District, what’s known as a consumptive use permit. The city was using even more water a year ago than it’s allowed, in part because the city has been encouraging conservation and using more reclaimed water. 

With the city’s reclaimed water system unavailable for weeks for repairs, that has the potential to worsen that issue.  

Ultimately, Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann, another mayoral candidate in the November election, said the city is about 90 days from breaking ground on the replacement for the East Wastewater Treatment Plant.  

“I’ve been waiting a long time to say that,” McCann said. “Now granted, it will take a couple years to build [it]. But we’re making movement. We’re working hard.”

Winter Springs meets with Verizon to talk 5G towers

After complaints last meeting about new 5G towers going up in Winter Springs near residential homes, Winter Springs staff was able to have a meeting with Verizon. 

Verizon currently has applications submitted for eight new towers. 

“We’ve asked them to especially look at some that we knew were in the pipeline and have already been installed to look at some alternate locations where feasible,” City Manager Kevin Sweet told commissioners Monday. “We’re looking at two locations, specifically, we’ve asked to be able to site at a city easement area that would be sort of out-of-sight.”

The issue is that the Tuscawilla neighborhood has a dense tree canopy, and relatively poor customer satisfaction due to signal interference by the trees, Sweet said. There are some options for masking the poles in more urban areas, but those options won’t necessarily work for Winter Springs. 

The city did ask Verizon to consider moving two 5G towers on Seneca and Winter Springs boulevards to nearby city property to reduce neighborhood visibility. 

Commissioner Mark Caruso asked if more applications could be coming. 

“[Verizon] pulled up all their future (plans) – at least for the small cell (towers) – and at this point everything that’s in now is going to be the limit, at least for the next few years,” Sweet said. 

Caruso asked if other carriers could also come into the city. Sweet said if that happens, the carriers would need to be 12 feet away from existing poles. 

“Nobody knows,” Sweet said. “I would caution that it’s likely, whether it be T-Mobile or AT&T. … It’s highly possible.”

Other communities that have gotten 5G towers, including Winter Park and Orlando, are getting more notice about the towers through their power utility providers. The following is a list of locations in Winter Springs; note that the addresses aren’t residential home sites, but addresses created for the poles themselves. Check here to see the applications. 

• COMM-2025-0506 – 421 Tuskawilla Road

• COMM-2025-0493 – 621 Tuskawilla Road

• COMM-2025-0478 – 1759 Seneca Blvd.

• COMM-2025-0429 – 1032 Northern Way

• COMM-2025-0424 – 1137 Northern Way

• COMM-2025-0459 – 1355 Winter Springs Blvd.

• COMM-2025-0423 – 1590 Winter Springs Blvd.

• SPEC-2025-0240 – 1556 Winter Springs Blvd.

Winter Springs formalizes Charter Review Committee

The city also approved an ordinance to officially establish a Charter Review Committee. 

The City Commission will look at making the actual appointments at the next meeting in March. The committee meetings will be held in the evenings, and will be noticed and recorded, according to the resolution. 

The committee will look at whether the city’s charter, equivalent to a constitution, complies with state and federal laws, or if it needs to be updated. The Charter Review Committee is also free to look at any part of the charter and make recommendations before providing a written list of recommendations to the City Commission, which makes the final decision.

Winter Springs’ charter became a hot topic this year as State Rep. Rachel Plakon filed a bill to give Winter Springs’ mayor a vote on City Commission matters, and potentially give the mayor authority to fire staff. Those charter changes were pushed by mayoral candidate Jesse Phillips, the cofounder of the Winter Springs Community Association.

City annexes land for 11 high-end homes

The Winter Springs City Commission also approved the annexation and Future Land Use changes on about 6 acres of land in the Winter Springs Town Center area.

The existing homes on the site are expected to be torn down and a subdivision with 11 high-end homes is being planned in the same location. 

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Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member