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Officials Leery Of Reservoir Costs

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By JULIA FERRANTE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 9, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - Engineers say it may cost an additional $3.9 million to finish a reclaimed water reservoir off Parkway Boulevard, bringing the total price to $22.7 million.

County commissioners are not, however, willing to commit more money to the project before finding out if the proposed solution is the right one.

"I'm not ready to approve funding until our engineer determines if we have done it right and our county attorney reviews it," Commissioner Michael Cox said at a meeting Tuesday in Dade City.
Assistant County Administrator Bruce Kennedy, a team of consulting engineers and a geologist told the board the latest fix on the reservoir is not working. The project, initially estimated at $4 million, has escalated in part because of higher construction costs and possibly because of mistakes in the plans.

Pasco County Utilities has dumped excess reclaimed water, used to irrigate lawns, golf courses and parks, at the reservoir site for years in what is known as a rapid infiltration basin. As part of a consent order signed last year with the state Department of Environmental Protection, county officials agreed to build the 100-million gallon reservoir to store reclaimed water.

Analysts conducted tests to identify caverns and weaknesses in the embankment and base. They found the potential for sinkholes and determined the reservoir, which would store water during the rainy season, needed to be grouted to prevent the walls from collapsing and flooding neighborhoods.

Workers have been pouring grout into the earth for the past few months in the hope of stabilizing the base and sides of the reservoir, but there is no end in sight to the work, and the county has nearly run out of money to complete the project, Kennedy said. It now appears another approach may have been more prudent.

Consultants from King Engineering recommended so-called compaction grouting as an alternative to constructing the reservoir with a material liner, partly because grouting was thought to be less expensive, Kennedy said. The savings have been consumed and then some. The engineers now say a combination of grouting and a liner are needed.

"Hindsight is 20-20," Kennedy said. "If we had known these issues, we would have stuck with the liner, but at the time it represented a $2.2 million difference."

Now, commissioners are wondering whether they got bad advice. They want an independent consultant to assess the latest recommended fix and determine whether the engineers are at fault.

Mike Wightman, a geologist with GeoView Inc. who reviewed the project, said that with or without a liner, workers still would have had to add grout to the base.

Cox suggested the board not allocate more money until the plans are approved by DEP. The board voted unanimously to do so.

"All the red flags are flying up here," Cox said. "I have a very big problem with engineers sending us down the wrong path."

Commissioners also had questions about whether their own consultant, Les Bromwell of BCI Engineers & Scientists, was too involved in the process. Bromwell said he suggested that the engineers consider going back to the liner option.

"I was not involved in the design at any point," Bromwell said at Tuesday's meeting. "Engineers with King were signing and sealing the plan. ... In a sense, I guess you could say I'm implicated, but I saw a situation that needed to be resolved and didn't think I should be quiet."

Bromwell plans to submit a report to the commission Nov. 27.

County Attorney Robert Sumner said Bromwell's involvement may be questionable.

"It appears our expert was part of the committee coming up with a solution. I want to make sure our expert is not part of that committee," Sumner said.

Commissioner Ted Schrader said this week he was discouraged by the latest news.

"It's just frustrating when we hire outside experts and put trust and confidence in them, and they just want to pass the buck and not take responsibility," he said.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has committed more than $2 million to the project, but county officials may ask the agency to increase the allocation.

Pasco Utilities has about 10,000 residential reclaimed water customers, mostly in central Pasco. Officials have turned down requests for reclaimed water from several neighborhoods because they cannot meet the demands. The county utility also services golf courses, schools and parks. Reservoirs must be built near the neighborhoods or businesses they serve and where transmission lines are available.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

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