The City of Pensacola’s run of bad timing continued last week. In the same week the community celebrated Earth Day, city officials revealed that the sewage from the downtown public library has been pumping unfiltered into the stormwater system and Pensacola Bay.
When the city built the downtown library in 1957, city officials saved money on a septic tank and sewer fees by letting the sewage flow into the bay. In 2013, the city renovated and expanded the downtown library but failed to connect the toilets in the old wing to sewer.
We don’t yet know if it was an intentional act on the part of the contractor or city officials chose to look the other way to save money. We do know that in 2012-2013 the city was having budget issues with the library and had to cut back hours at several branches (Read more).
By FY 2014, the county had taken control of the library system. In January 2014, the $6-million renovation was completed and the building was turned over to the county to operate.
This morning, Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown confirmed the county has been paying for sewer since it took over the downtown library facility. He said the sewer fees are calculated based on water usage.
County staff has been told by the city that the new wing is connected to the sewer system, but the older part was not hooked up until last week after people complained of a foul odor.
Brown was uncertain as to whether ECUA will refund the county for sewer fees paid for the non-existent service.