After decades-long fight for funding, Pinecrest to bring county water into final set of homes

ward into the future. It’s to give people the opportunity to have clean access to clean drinking water. ... This is the cheapest this project is ever going to be.”

SUBSIDIZED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

The protracted effort to connect Pinecrest homes to the Miami-Dade County water supply has been ongoing since the village was first incorporated in 1996. The project, estimated to cost $11.3 million, has stalled repeatedly due to the 2008 recession, a lack of outside funding and a failed referendum in 2019, when voters throughout the village turned down an opportunity to help their neighbors foot the bill.

But now, with about

$8.1 million in COVID-19 stimulus funds in village coffers, plus another $500,000 in general obligation bond money from the county, Pinecrest is moving to connect homes that still rely on wells, saying the cost to property owners will be significantly subsidized.

The average cost to connect a single-family home to the county’s water line can be between $2,500 and $5,000, which includes a plumbing contractor, a permit fee and a water meter fee — a cost developers usually carry when developing new properties and build in to the price for the buyer.

The project will not only address homes on well water, but also complete the village’s fire hydrant system.

AN ISSUE OLDER THAN PINECREST

Before Pinecrest was incorporated, the area was used for agriculture, meaning most properties were on well water and weren’t required to bring in public, potable water. Over several decades, county water infrastructure was brought in, and property owners who built in the area brought in the water lines as part of the development of their homes. The patchwork of water lines, however, left pockets of older homes on well water.

In the late 1990s, the county installed water lines for homes near Suniland Plaza shopping center in reaction to environmental contamination that was found near a dry cleaner at the property, putting those who used well water at risk.

From 2008 to 2011, the village created a master plan that resulted in water lines being installed in additional portions of Pinecrest. The plan determined that about 1,500 homes were without access to county water, and the village acquired state grants and countywide general obligation bond dollars to put in the infrastructure.

The total funding was about $6 million, and while it brought hundreds of homes onto the county water main, it left about 540 homes still reliant on well water. That number has since grown to about 700.

The economic recession in 2008 put a squeeze on

funding to complete the plan, which is why there are still homes reliant on wells.

“I spent my entire eight years doing everything but stand on my head, trying to get money from federal government, state or county,” said Cindy Lerner, who served as the village’s mayor during the recession.

She said the federal relief dollars currently available are “like manna from heaven.”

THE BALLOT INITIATIVE

Support among Pinecrest voters for the project, however, has been lackluster.

During a 2019 special election, the village put the question to the residents: Would they support a $15 million bond to cover the cost of bringing in county water infrastructure for the 700 or so homes still tapping wells? Voter turnout was historically high at 44%, and the issue failed with 62% of residents voting “no.”

The ad valorem bond would have cost 23 cents per $1,000 of property value, or about $158 per year for the average home in Pinecrest.

The issue was unpopular with many residents, since it proposed that all homeowners pay to subsidize water for a few. It divided neighbors politically, and

caused rifts that still exist today.

Cheri Ball, who served on the village council from 2014 to 2018, chaired the political committee Pinecrest H20 that pushed the initiative. She lives on well water, and said it “became personal” during Hurricane Irma, when she lived without power or water for 10 days. Well pumps rely on electricity to draw water from the water source into a home.

“We need to stop living in the past,” said Ball, who was pleased with the village’s Tuesday decision. “So much of it is about moving forward.”

THE NEW RESOLUTION

On Tuesday, the village gave tentative approval to a resolution that creates a special assessment group for homes without access to the county water system. The 700 homes in that group would pay $358.97 per year for 25 years to help pay for the installation, or prepay a flat $5,556 assessment, for a more than $3,000 savings.

The people who gain access to the water will have 10 years to hook up, giving people the option initially to keep their well water.

Miami-Dade County’s Water and Sewer Department’s policy is that the customer pays for the

water once connected. Once the main is installed, the county is tasked with keeping it up and running. Revenue from water sales can only be used to pay for expenditures and improvements to existing water lines, not new ones, which is why the village and residents must foot the initial bill.

The bulk of the cost will be paid with dollars from the federal American Rescue Plan legislation, which has specific rules on how and when it must be spent. The money can be spent on infrastructure projects such as water, sewer and broadband projects, and must be spent by the end of 2024.

Some homeowners continue to resist. A list of contaminated wells in the village has been circulated in its communications on the issue.

“Once you lose your valuable well water, it is gone forever,” they wrote in an online petition that has garnered around 100 signatures.

But at the Tuesday meeting, County Commissioner Raquel Regalado backed the village’s decision, noting that for years the county has “been very concerned about the wells and contamination.”

She noted that while some residents pay private inspectors to check the wells, there is no regulated inspection. That can leave residents at risk.

“We love living in Pinecrest. The only gripe we’ve ever had has been the water issue,” Joel Adler, a 25-year resident whose home is among the 700 to be moved onto county water, said during the three-hour meeting Tuesday. “We have a golden opportunity to take advantage of a once-in-alifetime situation. It would be truly a crime to let this opportunity pass over.”

Samantha J. Gross: @samanthajgross