- A citizen petition to force Marco Island to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant has been certified by the Collier County Supervisor of Elections.
- The referendum language asks that the city be required to upgrade the plant but doesn’t provide for its funding.
- Marco Island City Council could skip the referendum and approve the language on its own.
A citizen petition to force Marco Island to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant has been certified by the Collier County supervisor of elections and will go to voters in August if the Marco Island City Council doesn’t pass the proposed ordinance on its own.
If approved, the referendum would require Marco Island to upgrade its water treatment plant to an Advanced Wastewater Treatment, or AWT, system, with the goal of lowering total nitrogen and phosphorous to specific levels for reclaimed water.
The referendum question does not provide for money for the upgrade, and the head of the city’s water and utilities says it won’t make a measurable difference in the city’s water, which has been on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) water impairment list since 2019…