FORECAST: Oakland’s septic-to-sewer work continues | West Orange Times & Observer

A massive ongoing project launched by the City of Oakland a decade ago is proving to be a benefit for the city as more businesses choose to locate in Oakland. There will be even more changes this year as officials continue the city’s multi-million dollar conversion from a septic tank to a sewer.

New residential buildings are being built with sewer hookups, as are large commercial projects like Lakeside Church and Tractor Supply Co. Much of this is paid for with a combination of government funding, impact fees, and developer contributions.

The city’s goal was to create a 21st-century community with 19th-century charm.

“When we first started, our goal was to get from Lake County to the Winter Garden city limits,” said Mike Parker, director of public works. “Lift station 6 takes us there. The filling will be development driven. When development starts, we will build more.”

TURNING A PLAN INTO ACTION

Oakland officials began discussions in 2013 with a series of vision meetings to gauge residents’ desires. The general consensus was that they wanted Mayberry – with restaurants and shopping. But to get there, the city would have to stop relying on its legacy sewage system and develop and implement an aggressive — and expensive — plan to transition to a sewage system that can handle the volume of wastewater that restaurants and even hotels produce.

Lift Station 2 is on JW Jones Road at the west end of Oakland.

Building a sewage treatment plant was out of the question for cost and other reasons, so the city contracted with the City of Clermont to treat the wastewater.

The next step was to build the necessary infrastructure to route the sewage through the city and into Clermont, so the city embarked on a series of lift station projects.

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Lift Station 1 was constructed on the west end of town near the Lake-Orange County Line to carry wastewater to the Clermont Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Lift Station 2, which houses the main pumping station, is on JW Jones Road and serves a large area between the Lake-Orange County Line and Remington Road south of Florida’s Turnpike and primarily north of West Colonial Drive.

Lift Station 3 serves two residential areas along Hull Island Drive.

Lift Station 4 serves the area that includes the residential neighborhood of Longleaf at Oakland and The Avenue on Oakland apartment complex.

Lift Station 5 is now operational at the intersection of East Hull Avenue and South Arrington Street. It serves Tractor Supply Co. and Lakeside Church, both on Colonial, and some residences.

“We ran a septic tank to wastewater initiative in 2021-22,” Parker said. “We eliminated existing septic tanks and connected these apartments – about 50 houses – to the central sewage system. We also got a few … churches down the drain with this project.”

When construction is complete, these materials will form part of Lift Station 6 and the former unpaved Motamassek Road will become paved Catherine Ross Road.

Lift Station 6 is currently under construction along Catherine Ross Road (formerly Motamassek Road) and will serve most of the development south of Colonial, Parker said. Several companies on Colonial that cater to child care and youth water sports have also committed to building in the area.

This lift station will serve an already approved 44-unit subdivision east of Catherine Ross and south of Oakland Avenue, as well as the Oakland Avenue Charter School and the city’s public safety facility, which is home to the Oakland Police Department and the Orange County Fire Rescue Department.

By the end of December 2022, the city had lined the concrete structures for building the lift station along the street and ready to be set in the ground. Parker estimates the lift station will be operational by May.

Catherine Ross Road will be under construction by the end of 2023 and is expected to open in 2024, he said. It will serve as another north-south link to relieve traffic on Oakland Avenue and Colonial.

Parker said the conversion project is expected to be tendered by this month’s deadline. In this project, the public safety building and the charter school will be converted from the sewage treatment plant and will be connected to lift station 6 after commissioning in late spring.

“The removal of the school and public services building from the seven septic tanks and 1-hectare runoff field is a major achievement for the city – because there’s a lot of operations and maintenance to manage something of this size, plus the (impact on the) environment,” said Parker. “All this septic tank goes straight into the ground, which seeps straight into Lake Apopka.”

A small lot south of Colonial, currently under construction, will also be connected to lift station 6.

The Liftstation 7 project is currently in the design phase. It will serve the north extension of Jefferson Street near Lake Apopka and is expected to be operational in mid-2024. This includes the new Briley Farms development, as well as the surrounding existing homes, which will be removed from the septic tank and connected to the sewer, Parker said.

Parker said nothing is planned beyond the seventh lift station.

“It will depend on development and funding,” he said. “We collect these from the city with as few resources as possible. There are still many things to do, but nothing concrete.”

“It’s just amazing when you consider that this infrastructure didn’t even exist six years ago,” Parker said. “Oakland is definitely growing!”

According to Parker, only newly built neighborhoods and commercial projects will be connected to the sewer system. He said it could take 10 years to connect established communities like Johns Landing and Johns Cove, but those residents will eventually get the opportunity.

“Five years ago we didn’t have anyone in the sewer, and now we have just over 1,000 customers in the sewer and (pumping) 3 million gallons a month,” Parker said. “That’s a lot of waste water. This is something new for Oakland.”

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