Septic Tank Replacement Program

Running out of time and into some money, residents receive updates to sewer connection procedures and bills. Residents in the North Barfield and West Winterberry districts have until May 14 to contact the city if they wish to use the city’s contractor for connecting to the sewer system. Full story »

More than 100 residents packed into the lobby of the Community Room on Bald Eagle Drive Tuesday evening to learn what was happening in their neighborhood in regards to being connected to Marco Island’s central sewer system. Full story »

If you are in one of the areas that has received a new sewer “notice of availability” please check the due date for contracting with the City’s plumbing contractor. Full story »

It’s a task fit for the popular Discovery Channel show, “Dirty Jobs,” in which host Mike Rowe takes on a new messy, often disgusting assignment each week. Digging ditches, connecting sewer pipe and breaking up old septic tanks are not glamorous, but they are all in a day’s work for Rohaley & Sons Plumbing Contractors, the Fort Myers company completing sewer tie-ins in the West Winterberry and North Marco sewer assessment districts. Full story »

Elections are over, sewer installation will in all likelihood continue, but the Marco Island Code Enforcement Board is just beginning its own share of the battle. The council-appointed board met Wednesday afternoon to address 10 violations of the city code requiring residents to hook up to city sewer lines within 365 days of availability of the sewer line. But first, the board had to discuss among itself when and where its authority begins. Full story »

No issue looms larger in Tuesday’s Marco Island City Council election than the plan to replace the island’s remaining septic tanks with a central sewer system. Of the eight candidates in the race for four council seats, four have vowed to halt the seven-year program that costs individual homeowners around $20,000 to connect to the sewer system. The other four candidates want to finish installing the sewers. Full story »

If you are perplexed by the arguments for and against replacing septic systems with sewers throughout Marco Island, check out this question and answer conversation with an expert. Full story »

Marco Island’s sewer program has found its most high-profile holdout: former NFL all-star kicker Mike Vanderjagt. Construction outside Vanderjagt’s island home in the first section of the city’s seven-year $100 million project was completed last December.
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In the first debate of the election season, there were clear favorites in the minds of the audience, and clear winners huddled around a single issue: septic or sewer. Full story »

An irate e-mail, written by an angry resident to the Marco Island City Council, has sparked controversy and escalated out of control after a local television news station reported it Wednesday night. Full story »

Council voted by a narrow margin Monday night to go forward with the latest construction items for the city’s Septic Tank Replacement Program. Full story »

The sewer-versus-septic-system controversy on Marco Island has been so emotional for so long it could be a miniseries on the Lifetime channel or an Ultimate Fighting bout at Germain Arena. Soon, however, the conflict will have a new focus — the cost of stopping the sewer program in midstream. Full story »

Despite all the bumps in the road, Marco Island’s biggest ever project continues to roll forward. Full story »

Once they saw the price tag on additional testing from monitoring firm ENVIRON, Marco Island's City Council made the decision Friday to change direction on how to address concerns of hydrogen sulfide exposure that have plagued the sewer construction program in recent months. Full story »

A Sept. 6 Florida Supreme Court ruling sent municipalities all over the state reeling, as they tried to determine how it would bear on bonds they issue to pay for major projects. Full story »