Wakulla County commissioners approved an emergency 45-day moratorium on sewer connections at their meeting on Monday, Aug. 1.

The moratorium specifically affects new sewer connections for homes that are served by Hickory Park and Wakulla Gardens Master Lift Stations located in the Crawfordville service area.

It was announced that building permits would continue to be approved in this area with sewer connection and Certificates of Occupancy contingent on sufficient capacity.

After a recent analysis of the sewer system, officials determined that several critical components are at, or near, capacity in areas served by the Hickory Park and Wakulla Gardens Master Lift Stations.

One possible problem with the system is a potential blockage that is slowing flows in the main that was bored under Lost Creek: solids may have settled in the line, and there may also be air blockages there, as Commissioner Randy Merritt noted.

New valves are planned to be put in the lines, work that is expected to be completed in two weeks.

County Commissioner Ralph Thomas asked if citizens and businesses on the system would experience any outage of service and was told the work will be done while the lines are “hot.”

After the implementation of these corrective measures, pump times and flow rates of lift stations will be monitored for 30 days to determine if the system has stabilized and can handle an increase in capacity. Officials will review the data recorded to determine if the moratorium can be lifted.

The County has identified potential remedies which should enable the collection system to handle new homes and businesses in the Crawfordville area connecting to the sewer system until the planned infrastructure force main projects have been completed.

These projects have been planned for years and are anticipated to take one year to complete.

“We took quick action to maintain the environmentally responsible and efficient operation of the public wastewater treatment system, without causing a negative impact to local jobs and economic development,” Commissioner Thomas was quoted as saying in a county press release.