Port Charlotte residents must pay to switch to county sewer

Author: Dave Culbreth
Published:

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.- In an effort to keep Southwest Florida’s water clean, residents are being told they need to shell out $10,000 to convert their septic tanks to county sewer.

Most of the area affected is in the Spring Lake community.

“We believe it’s going to improve the water quality in Charlotte Harbor,” said engineer Bruce Bullert.

Homes that have septic tanks will be required to hook up to the county sewer.

The county will receive a total of $3.3 million dollars in grants from the state.

“A lot of these homes were built a number of years ago. A lot of the on-site systems are really quite old and because of that, a lot of them have seen their life,” said Bullert.

“We had the option of the sewer or the septic so we took the sewer,” said resident Richard Martin.

Unlike Martin, many of the approximately 1,500 homeowners that live in the area northwest of the Spring Lake boatramp will have to pay to transfer from septic to county sewer.

Many homeowners say they cannot afford the change.

Utility officials say they are looking for ways to help reduce the cost.

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