The daily newspaper reports today that the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority is $27 million under its $316 million budget in its relocation of the Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant from downtown Pensacola to Cantonment. According to the article, ECUA quickly reallocated most of the funds to avoid having to give any of it back to the City or County. Shouldn’t it have given the funds back to the taxpayers?
ECUA allocated $21.6 million to other projects it claims are related to the relocation
— $2.5 million: 65-million gallon wet-weather storage basins and pumping equipment.
— $1.8 million: 5-million gallon effluent equalization tank.
— $10 million: upgrade 27 ECUA lift stations.
— $3.3 million: 30-inch effluent pipe to International Paper Co.
— $1.8 million: 36-inch effluent pipe to Gulf Power Co.
— $150,000: truck wash area.
— $50,000: heavy-equipment storage/parking area.
— $1 million: Private lift station modifications.
— $1 million: system modifications/improvements.