TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Decades-old wastewater infrastructure in Space City USA is poised to get an overhaul starting in 2023.

During Tuesday’s Titusville city council meeting, council members will take up a vote regarding the Indian River Force Main Improvement (IRFMI) project.

The vote would raise their previously approved State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan amount for the roughly two-miles worth of replacement work from the original $4,889,000 to $9.528,453. Titusville Public Works Director Kevin Cook said the State of Florida already agreed to the loan amendment, so this is just the city signing off on the increase. 

Cook said the reason for the request is that originally, the project was estimated to cost less than $5 million, but once the project went out for bid, it came back much higher than that. He said that could be contributed to a combination of inflation and supply chain issues.

“Whether it be PVC pipe purchases or asphault purchases, all of the pieces of construction have gone up in cost quite substantially in the last year, actually, longer than a year now,” Cook said. “In talking to them at the pre-con, there is a supply chain issue with the amount of pipe they’re needing to buy. They’re having to go to multiple vendors to be able to fill these orders.”

“So, there’s a number of occurances that are driving the price of it.”

The portion of wastewater infrastructure that the project deals with are in great need of replacement. On Monday, Cook described it as “one of our oldest lines and most high-risk lines in the city,” adding that it’s a critical need replacement.”

Spots like the South Street lift station experienced another wave of backups and overflowing during Hurricane Ian, something residents like Sue Idtensohn, said they’re tired of dealing with.

“This pump house was built in 1998 and we’ve had a couple of incidents where the pump has overflowed and sewage has come onto our yard,” she said.

Cook said in many spots, the system is past its intended lifespan, with many portions dating back to the Apollo era of the 60s.

“The last piece that was installed, major piece, was in ’83, I believe,” Cook said. “And then, the pieces below that are much older. So, I think it’s probably well outside of a sixty-year lifespan in most places.”

Cook said that in addition to reducing the nuisance of sewage overflows and the risk to human health, he said it will also be beneficial in protecting the Indian River Lagoon.

“Being that the older lines have a tendency to have leaks, have minor breaks and major breaks, by replacing them in a timely fashion, we’re preventing sewage spills into the lagoon, which are obviously detrimental to the environment of the lagoon and the life of it,” Cook said.

The scope of the project runs from the South Street lift station and running to Osprey Water Reclamation Facility. The pipeline replaced will be about 10,000 linear feet of 16-inch force main (a type of pressurized sewer pipe). 

There will be some notable transportation disruption during the work, which includes some roadway drilling and the installation of new railroad crossings. The project itself won’t include new lift stations, but Cook said there are some in the works being funded with other money.

Cook said the SRF loan is given to them at a one percent interest rate, which would be paid back over the life of the loan. As far as the impact on Titusville ratepayers, they hope to keep the increase needed to pay for this to “stay close to an inflationary number.”

“This is one of many capital projects, but also general operating is also more expensive currently with current environment,” Cook said. “But every year, we strive to minimize the impact to our customers.” 

Once the funding is secure, Cook said the contractor will have about 45 to 60 days to get started and then have about a year to complete the work.

He anticipates that the project will be complete by the end of summer 2024.