Greg Veliz, executive director for the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about their projects.
As the year winds down, the staff at the aqueduct authority is getting some time off.
Veliz said, “It was a really hot summer, and we’ve got a lot of work accomplished, so things are winding down a little bit now, at the end of the year, we’re going to, we’re going to take some days off. Of course, a lot of our contractors aren’t from here, so they’re going back home to spend time with their family. So it’s a slower time of year.”
It hasn’t been a slow year, though, in terms of accomplishments.
Veliz said, “Historically, the aqueduct’s kind of been in a $30 million a year range when it comes to repairs, which sounds like a really big number, but when it comes to these type of jobs, that doesn’t go very far. We’re now at closer to $100 million a year for the last two years, and we hope to exceed $100 million next year. So yes, the amount of jobs and the size of jobs have increased. We have an RO plant that’s fixing to go online in March, and we’ll be having a grand opening for that, which we’ll be able to provide 4 million gallons. So that’s been something that’s been going on for several years, and now it’s finally going to end here in March. Of course, the pipeline. We break it into little pieces, and we finish a piece and we start a piece, but technically, it’s still 130 miles of line, so that job, while we set little goals and little end dates, will never end. The pipe itself is not going up. It’s just the cost of doing business these days. It’s just astronomical.”
The money for the RO plants came from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
Veliz said, “They’ve been very active participants in this process and they think it’s a pretty big deal. Apparently when we have our grand opening, there’s going to be a good show up from at least Tallahassee, and hopefully some from Washington that’ll come down, because it’s a plant that creates water out of sea water, potable water out of sea water at 4 million gallons a day, and has the dependency that we have on that water, since we’re only connected by one line. It’s a perfect storm, a huge project. So they’re taking a lot of pride and being a part of it and to them, in the big picture of the state, it’s a big deal.”
A lot of people are planning for the legislative session in Tallahassee in March.
Veliz said, “Well, Tallahassee has made it very clear to us, don’t come back unless you’ve traveled every path and you’ve asked and knocked on every door. So that’s what we do. We go up this time of year, January, I’ll be going up, and we knock on their door, but every time that door opens, they ask, what have you done? Other than relying on Tallahassee? So I believe we’ve covered that. We’ve gone to the market, we’ve borrowed money. We’ve we have a grant department that used to have one person on occasion, and now we have three dedicated people to doing nothing but finding and applying for grants. So we’re making our money stretch further. Wastewater might be eligible for this, but water might be eligible for that. So it takes a lot of maneuvering, but we’re looking at under every stone for every dollar, because the only thing standing between us and ultimate water security is money. We can do as many projects as we can do, it’s just, how many dollars do we have to spend on them? The marching orders here are very clear. I like to go to Tallahassee broke. You get a lot more money when you’re broke. Spend it. Let’s get it done. Let’s get these projects moving and hopefully I can go up there and say, look, I really need it. And I do really need it.”
For more information, click here: https://www.fkaa.com/