If you read last week’s edition, you will remember that we wrote a story with information garnered primarily from someone who was claiming that the Florida Public Service Commission had denied a need for Little Gasparilla residents (and other barrier island residents) to find a different way to get rid of their sewage and wastewater. You read that Charlotte County Commissioners who had been 100 percent for the plan to find a solution were puzzled when the barrier islands were denied this option by the PSC. You also read that there were numerous septic systems at island homes that were a hazard, as they were entirely submerged during certain high tides … and some that were completely submerged at almost every high tide.

The cost of living in a very desirable area just caught up with a lot of people in Lee County, and whether or not you have a homestead exemption, it still feels like a pretty good bite out of anyone’s budget.
For some people, it was an almost 20 percent bite this year.

So how does the state progress with its clean water plans if coastal homes with private septic and wastewater systems are being denied a better way? That’s a question that many are speculating about right now, and with a reconsideration hearing coming up in early September, people who have the same questions need to speak up.