Signs of progress in septic tank phaseout in Jacksonville neighborhoods

By On Nov 30, 2021

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – There has been significant movement in the city of Jacksonville and JEA’s septic tank phasing out program.

The efforts that the News4JAX I-TEAM have pursued for years are aimed at helping the environment and fulfilling the decades-long promises made by executives to neighborhoods across the city.

Three different projects are in three different stages in Northwest Jacksonville. The first of the three is underway in the Biltmore neighborhood, where residents promised access to urban sewer systems in the late 1960s are finally being hooked up. Significant progress is also being made in the Beverly Hills neighborhood. Meanwhile, there is still a lot to do in the Christobel community.

Greg Corcoran, JEA’s manager of community involvement and outreach, brought News4JAX cameras to the location where septic tanks were set in the Beverly Hills West neighborhood.

“When we do sewer work, we actually have to rebuild the entire road – not just the paving. We have to build the road base and then we have to paving, ”Corcoran said.

Corcoran calls this work a turning point for the neighborhood and for nearby businesses that no longer rely on septic tanks and water from shallow rock wells. The entire community is essentially built from the ground up.

He says the Beverly Hills neighborhood project is 20% complete, with much of the deep sewer installation now complete.

Corcoran says hundreds of people who live in the Biltmore community are already hooked up to the system, with the project slated to complete for some time next year.

As for the Christobel area, the JEA and the city of Jacksonville are in the public domain. You need 70% of the neighborhood to approve the project before construction begins.

Local residents such as Loretta Barfield and Carol Gamble urge homeowners with all questions to get involved and approve construction for this and other generations.

“Sign up, come to the library. We are here at Edgewood. Sign the paperwork we need, ”Barfield said.

Gamble said, “It brings the news and we have to get it.

If you live in the neighborhood of Christobel and would like information about the planned project, you can call a special JEA number: 904-665-7500.

Total funding between JEA and the City of Jacksonville for the current septic tank program is currently $ 82.6 million. JEA contributes $ 52.4 million.