The following is a letter sent to the City Manager on October 21st, 2006. We will publish the manager's reply if and when it is received.

Editor

jeericson@dunnellon.org


Mr. Ericson,

  At the last City Council Workshop held on October 18th, you stated that the city had no developer’s agreement with the Rainbow River Ranch. You also indicated that there was no agreement on the disposition of the water and sewer needs of the development.
  A cursory evaluation of the planned city sewer upgrade obviates the inadequate resources of the upgraded system once the RRR development is added to the system. You did not seem to be concerned about this, explaining that you were “not an engineer”, and would rely on the input of the city’s engineering firm to solve the problem.
  You also stated that the sewer expansion plan did not include the RRR development, although this development has been in the planning stages for several years. In addition, you stated that the RRR development will be required to meet an 8-year build-out.
  As the developer has already begun preparing the property for construction by clear-cutting the East Blue Cove Conservation Area (without, I might add, providing adequate toilet facilities for the land-clearing workers), I would like to ask you exactly when these agreements would be finalized. Do you intend to issue building permits prior to the resolution of these important issues? Do you intend to levy impact fees on the RRR developer to offset the costs of adding the development to the existing sewer system, or will you require the RRR developer to build a new sewer treatment plant to handle the output of the development?
  Also, at the meeting, Mr. Hancock estimated the cost to city residents above the grant funding to be approximately $3 million dollars, once the phased plan is completed. Is this a realistic figure? Also, it was pointed out that the grant was obtained on the basis of a small town requirement; would not this status be jeopardized by the addition of the Rainbow River Ranches’ luxury homes? I would also like an answer to Mr. Warren’s question about the new 60 room hotel that will be constructed within the city. Was this development included in the sewer upgrade plans?
  In conclusion, while I am not currently a city of Dunnellon resident, many of my readers are, and I believe that they would like answers to the questions I have posed here. I appreciate your time, and look forward to hearing your reply to this inquiry, which I will publish subsequent to the publication of this letter on Dunnellon Online.


Respectfully,

Bob Burke
Publisher
Dunnellon Online
www.dunnellononline.com