City and JEA to dedicate over $25 million to remove septic tanks from NW Jacksonville neighborhoods

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A project to remove septic tanks from three Northwest Jacksonville neighborhoods will receive more funding from the City and JEA.

The City of Jacksonville will put forth $14.3 million while JEA will add another $12.5 million to complete the project that started back in 2016.

The Septic Tank Phase Out program started back in 2016 when City Council approved $30 million to remove more than 1,000 septic tanks from the Biltmore, Beverly Hills and Christobel neighborhoods. However JEA CEO Jay Stowe said in a Board meeting on January 28 that there isn’t enough money to continue to fund the program.

“Unfortunately, the money dedicated to the project from the city and JEA is not enough to fund all of these areas. I’ve asked JEA staff to work with city staff and revisit the septic tank phaseout plan and determine a viable plan for moving forward,” Stowe said.

That’s where this new funding comes into play. While the Biltmore C Septic Tank Phaseout Project is currently on schedule and is expected to finish this fall, The Beverly Hills and the Christobel Septic Tank Phaseout Project is currently on hold due to the lack of money.

“The septic tank phase out for Christobel is a priority for me,” Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman said at the announcement. “Those neighborhoods on the north side deserves an opportunity to have a quality of life. Unfortunately, you know, the real numbers for real issues, it was under budgeted.”

City Officials say that more than $17 million was already used for the project in the Biltmore neighborhood, and $38 million has previously been allocated to the Beverly Hills neighborhood.

In Duval County, there are over 60,000 septic tanks according to a study done in 2016. That same study shows that 35 neighborhoods critically need to remove those septic tanks - a project that could cost the city over two billion dollars.

“We have to start somewhere. We can’t keep writing this issue off as a multi-generational and multi-billion dollar problem that is too big to address. We made promises to do this and the time has come for government to start keeping its promises to its people, however big or however expensive,” Mayor Lenny Curry said.

Earlier this week, Council President Tommy Hazouri announced that he filed legislation that would dedicate $100 million to help remove septic tanks from the other 35 neighborhoods. Curry says that while he hasn’t looked at the bill, he will work with City Council to help phase out septic tanks.

“So I’m committed to taking that list and working with this council and coming up with a comprehensive long term solution to this that’s funded, that’s thoughtful, that’s smart in how it uses debt, how it uses debt service, and that gets the project done,” Curry said.

The neighborhoods included on the list of septic tank removals are:

• Northlake
• The Cape
• Riverview
• Kinard
• Odessa
• Cedar River
• Lakeshore
• Ortega
• Westfield
• Champion Forest
• Eggleston Heights
• Mill Creek
• Empire Point
• Oakhaven
• Spring Glen
• Emerson
• Inwood Terrace/Freeman Road
• Point La Vista
• Oak Lawn
• Beauclerc Gardens
• Southside Estates
• Holly Oaks
• Lone Star Park
• Sans Peril
• Mt. Pleasant
• Pablo Point
• Atlantic Highlands
• Julington Hills
• Hood Landing II
• Julington Creek

Cox Media Group