Are Leesburg city officials gambling taxpayer money on a speculative wastewater infrastructure deal or wisely investing in a potential infill project that will prevent further development on environmentally sensitive land?
The commission and city manager discussed a $70,000 expenditure at the Leesburg commission meeting on May 11. The question: whether to spend taxpayer money to evaluate the defunct Cutrale processing plant for potential city use, despite not knowing if the property is even for sale or what it would cost to buy.
City Manager Al Minner argued that while it may seem to some a speculative “gamble,” spending $70,000 on a solution now could save the city tens of millions of dollars in future expansion costs (which he estimated could reach $75 million to $100 million).
He likened the investment to a diagnostic on a car before purchasing it.
Commissioner Jay Conell was the lone “no” vote, calling it “craziness” to spend $70,000 on a diagnostic test for a “car” they don’t own and don’t know the price of. He argued it was “putting the cart before the horse.”
For Minner, the engineering study to “kick the tires” on the Cutrale facility. The goal is to see if its sewer systems can be repurposed to expand the city’s capacity for 2040 and beyond.
The measure passed 4-1, like many votes in recent months, with Mayor Allyson Berry and Commissioners Jimmy Burry, Alan Reisman and Mike Pederson authorizing the study to move forward.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Leesburg officials approve study for former Cutrale plant’s future
Reporting by Julie Garisto, Leesburg Daily Commercial / Daily Commercial
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