Gulf Acres/Rosemary Heights Special Assessment Area

On February 17, 2016, City Council provided consensus to proceed with planning and design of a sanitary sewer system to replace septic tanks along Cooper Drive, Illinois Drive, and Ridge Street within the City’s Sanitary Sewer Service Area.

On November 2, 2016, City Council approved a Resolution accepting an Interlocal Agreement with Collier County to design and construct a City sanitary sewer system in conjunction with County stormwater improvements within Areas 4 and 5 as identified in the 2006 Unsewered Master Plan. During this meeting City Council was informed that the project area would be expanded to include all streets within Areas 4 & 5. The streets included are Hollygate Lane, Frank Whiteman Boulevard, Cooper Drive, Illinois Drive, 10th Street North, 12th Street North, 14th Street North, Ridge Street, Rosemary Lane and Rosemary Court (the "Gulf Acres - Rosemary Heights Assessment Area").

The City and County entered into an Interlocal Agreement to develop a scope of work to select an engineering design firm.  On February 9, 2017, the Request for Proposal (RFP) was jointly prepared by City and County staff and publicly advertised. Three firms responded to the RFP with Grady Minor selected as the top ranked firm. City and County staff negotiated the scope and fee with Grady Minor for a total cost of $681,391. The City’s portion of the utility improvements design cost is $338,458 including the design cost for the water main improvements which is $29,932. Only the design cost of $308,526 of the sanitary sewer system will be included in the assessment.

Grady Minor, the engineering design firm completed the preparation of the plans and the County released a solicitation for contractors to submit their construction bids, subsequently awarding a construction contract in October 2018.  The construction schedule will be provided after the construction contactor is selected.

The scope of the project will include the replacement of the potable water mains within the assessment area.  The new water main construction will include installation of fire hydrants and individual service lines from the main to the existing water meters.  The size of the new water mains will be increased to provide better flow and pressure to the homes and businesses.  The estimated cost of the new water system is $1,500,000.  The cost of the new potable water system will be paid by the City and not included in the assessment.  Along with the construction of the sewer system, the City will provide an emergency generator that will provide emergency power to one of the sewer pump stations located on 10th Street North.  The cost of the emergency generator will not be included in the assessment. 

On June 14, 2017 City Council adopted a declaration of intent resolution, Resolution No. 2017-13979, indicating the location, nature, and estimated cost of the sanitary sewer improvements and establishing the assessment roll.  On November 15, 2017, City Council accepted an $800,000 grant for this assessment area, and passed a resolution relating to the uniform method of collections, and on December 6, 2017, passed a resolution approving an interlocal agreement related to the tax bill collections. 

The initial assessment resolution was approved via resolution 2018-14194; the final assessment resolution was approved on October 17, 2018, via resolution 2018-14223. This resolution established the base cost at $13,300 per equivalent residential connection.  The assessment roll is available at the City Finance Department or the City Clerk's office, or in the forms shown below. 

On November 29, an informational letter was mailed to each property owner. The purpose of the letter is to notify each property owner of the upcoming assessment. In mid to late January, a letter with a selection form will be mailed to each property owner. This will include a return form upon which to choose a payment option.