ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Sewall’s Point’s long-running plan to convert from septic to sewer advanced this week after the Martin County Board approved additional grinder systems needed to complete the project, despite concerns of poor planning and transparency during the approval process.
“In 2022, the Sewall’s Point Commission authorized a septic to sewer conversion with the assistance of an $8.4 million grant from the FDEP. The town and the county entered into two interlocal agreements. One was for the construction of 169 connections for grinder sewer, and the second was for 171 connections for a total of 340 grinder sewer systems to serve 340 parcels in low-lying areas,” Sewall's Point Public Works Director Sam Amerson said.
Village engineer Joseph Capra provided an overview of what has and has not been completed regarding the installation of grinder pumps needed to connect residents to the sewer system.
“We have finished all the lines necessary for people to hook up, either gravity or grinders, and it’s a combination of both types of systems. The commercial area, that also has sewers. Every one of the commercial businesses in there, we’ve hooked up sewers to for that. Those are actually hooked up, whereas the difference in North Sewall’s Point, we made sewers available. In the blue area, they actually were hooked up,” Capra said.
Major focus areas include installing grinders from Pineapple Lane to Oakwood Drive, and from Sewall’s Meadow to Delano Lane, areas Capra said have had long-standing issues.
“The importance of those areas is they are basically currently having health department concerns relative to the fact that we have water on the streets, which ultimately is intermixing with our septic tank drain field water, and essentially the people want that effluent to get addressed,” he said.
The work is under pressure from a looming deadline to use state grant funding. The village received $8.4 million from the FDEP for the project.
“The deadline is June 2026. That’s a very ambitious schedule to get more work done. We need to move as quick as possible to utilize the grant, or otherwise the $5.1 million that we have, we’re going to have to give back,” Capra said.
Preliminary surveys show general support from residents to connect to sewer. Connections will cost residents between $8,000-12,000. Connection is not mandatory, unless there is a system failure necessitating it.
All but one Sewall’s Point commissioner supported the vote. Commissioner Frank Tidikis said he believed the commission had willingly misrepresented the scope of the project.
“When applying for and signing the contract, the commission was aware the award was insufficient to provide sewer services to the 706 homes utilizing grinder and gravity systems. The commission was also aware of the Board of County Commissioners’ policy and limitation of 350 grinder systems. The commission painted itself into a corner, and it’s asking you to bail them out,” Tidikis said.
Tidikis also said poor planning has contributed to ongoing flooding problems.
“Although the grinder systems are better suited for low-lying areas, CAPTEC and its design and grinder layout didn’t include all areas that are well-known to flood during king tides and storms, but rather they service the higher elevations, and they ran the system up through High Point and also on the Rio Vista subdivision to the higher elevations,” he said.
He asked the board to reject the full request while still helping residents in the most flood-prone neighborhoods.
“What I’m requesting of you today is to deny the request for 134 grinders. However, I would like you to approve 10 additional grinder connections to service the portions of the low-lying areas, primarily Riverview and Palm Roads, that are not included and should have been included in the original design,” he said.
Martin County Commissioner Blake Capps supported the expanded installation, as did Commissioner Stacey Hetherington.
“When you think about Sewall’s Point geographically, there couldn’t be a more important place to have septic to sewer than Sewall’s Point. It’s completely surrounded by the Indian River and the St. Lucie River. If it’s important at all to us, anywhere in Martin County, it should be very important there. So, I would like to go ahead and move that we grant the request for an additional 134 grinders,” Capps said.
Commissioners Eileen Vargas and Sarah Heard opposed the decision, echoing Tidikis’ arguments about planning, and that the village commission knowingly ignored county policy limits for grinder systems.
“Even though you knew that you didn’t come within that, the Sewall’s Point Commission voted to approve that cheapest alternative, Option 1, that was in violation of our policy. And you put us in a bind to make an exception to our well-planned policy, which is a very difficult position to be in,” Heard said.
The request ultimately passed in a 3-2 vote, approving installation of all 134 grinders, even though the number exceeds county policy limits.