JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville is moving ahead with plans to fix a broken promise by putting people on city sewers instead of septic tanks. It could end up costing billions over years using both federal and local tax dollars.
Right now, the plan is moving forward neighborhood by neighborhood. Mayor Donna Deegan announced Monday in the city budget that the city is getting ready to spend $17.5 million more to bring sewers to neighborhoods where septic tanks are causing environmental concerns.
News4JAX caught up with Arron Jacobs in Northwest Jacksonville. The city calls his neighborhood Christobel, just off of Edgewater and Lem Turner. Arron and people we spoke with in that neighborhood say it’s known as The Bottoms. The 78-year-old has lived in the neighborhood since he was in the second grade.
Jacobs showed us his backyard. He says it’s drain field for his septic tank, and he can’t put anything heavy on it because he was told it would collapse. “I think this area has been dumped on and kicked around for at least 25 years. We should have had septic tank removal here,” Jacobs said. “It should have been done a long time ago.”
Jacobs and his friends tell us they are glad to hear this neighborhood is next in line for septic tank phase out. They will be able to hook up to JEA sewer lines for free. Once they are hooked up they will then pay a monthly sewer fee with their JEA water bill.
MAP: 2016 city map showing all areas considered for septic tank phase-out
The News4JAX I-TEAM has been following the progress of septic tank phase out since it was first approved by the city council in 2016. It has not been a fast process. JEA must get 70% of a neighborhood to agree before they begin construction.
One neighborhood, Biltmore, is completed with 214 homes connected. Work continues in other neighborhoods like Beverly Hills east and west.
The next neighborhoods in line include ones near the Ortega River, near Emerson, in St. Nicholas and Julington Creek.