N3 Neighborhood: Partners with Sarasota County

A Long History of Collaboration

On Thursday August 30, 2012 Sarasota County hosted a Public Meeting for residents of the PCSSRP Area N3. At this meeting we were presented with the virtues of the “low pressure” sewer system planned for the 216 homes in our neighborhood.  During this meeting one resident stood up and asked “are you asking us what we want, or are you telling us this is what we’re going to get”.  The answer from County staff was “this is the system you’re going to get”.  Shortly thereafter  the N3 Neighborhood Committee was formed and thus began our partnership with Sarasota County.  It would be less than accurate to say that we enjoyed a harmonious relationship from the beginning, but we always tried to be factual and respectful.  Over the next two years we met multiple times with Commissioners and Engineering Staff.  Our efforts were successful and in September 2014 members of the N3 Committee were invited to review preliminary plans for a Hybrid Sewer System designed for our neighborhood.  This new plan consisted of four sewage pumps instead of 216.  The County had only four pumps to maintain and the residents were spared the burden of a large pump in each front yard.  A win-win all around.

In February 2015 the N3 Committee was asked to review the final plans, and so we have the system we have today.  This was indeed a collaborative effort, and at one BCC meeting Commissioner Carolyn Mason said “This is the way government is supposed to work”.

In April 2017 Project Mgr John Saputo asked that the N3 website be used to help communicate with residents during the construction process and every notice or update from Saputo was posted here.  The project inspector for Jones Edmunds also used the N3 Neighborhood platform to inform residents.

In 2018 Saputo reached out to residents to participate in designing the landscapes for our lift stations (scroll the archives to April 2018 – “Wanted: Neighborhood input for landscaping”). Yet again,  the N3 Neighborhood is in partnership with Sarasota County.

Tomorrow’s post: Multiple Construction Delays

In tomorrow’s article I’ll review various aspects of Spectrum Underground’s performance and how their multiple delays have gotten us to where we are today.

Tags: community activities, hybrid sewers, neighborhood committee, sarasota county