Tampa Bay Water Regular Board Meeting - October 28, 2026

This summary was prepared from the raw transcript; no agenda or minutes were available. The meeting metadata date is 2026-10-28, but the transcript identifies the session as the 'October 19th, 2026 regular board meeting'; this discrepancy is noted rather than resolved. Chair Hanowitz presided, Vice Chair Waiteman led the Pledge, and the board voted on consent, action, and administrative items.

Consent Calendar

• No consent items were pulled. A motion to approve the consent agenda was made and seconded, and the clerk tallied a unanimous vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Karen Hillary, a Brandon resident living on the pipeline route, said the route decision has turned residents' lives upside down. She described two months on a dirt road, missed trash collection, mail delays, internet interruptions, blocked driveways, rerouted traffic, six-day-per-week construction, 24-hour dewatering pumps, house vibrations, dogs needing calming medication, yards used as temporary driveways, and contractor vehicles parked beyond promised barriers. She said the promised 'no staging on our side' did not hold, with dewatering and heavy construction within 50 feet of her front door. She asked the board to take responsibility for route consequences, create clear accountability for future property damage, and ensure honest communication and meaningful public input in future decisions.
• David Ballard Geddes Jr., a Palm Harbor resident on Georgia Avenue, voiced opposition to what he called unbridled development and questioned water-supply planning, eminent domain, reclaimed-water requirements, stormwater vaults, mortgage revenue bond financing, and conservation half-measures. He invoked constitutional and statutory arguments and expressed concern that private property and religious liberty were being taken through water and development processes.

Discussion Items

• General Manager's Report (B1): The general manager discussed the end-of-year water use true-up; coordination with the Polk Regional Water Cooperative under a settlement that upgraded the Alafia River water use permit; quarterly meetings with the district, Polk, and Tampa Bay Water; and a goal for Polk to find 12 MGD by 2032 so it would not seek more Alafia River water. He noted the 2027 water conservation and source water protection grants of $2,000 to $10,000 for nonprofits, community groups, schools, and universities, with applications closing in early November and awardees expected in January. He also mentioned a draft point-of-connection policy that member legal staffs and utility directors would discuss informally after the meeting before it returns to the board.
• Pipeline construction concerns during the general manager's report: Commissioner Wastel said the pipeline decision came from a prior Hillsborough County official who had since been defeated by voters, but the consequences linger. He said construction teams have told him they cannot do anything different, which frustrates his taxpayers. Sam Flowers of Garney Construction expressed sympathy for Ms. Hillary's experience and said the project team is committed to minimizing impacts; he stated work is within right-of-way and temporary construction easement limits, and that alleged encroachments beyond barriers were new to him. Michelle Robinson of Dialogue PR said community coordinators are on site daily, Garney added a sound-mitigating barrier around pumps, and portable toilets were moved after Ms. Hillary's complaints. Flowers added that on at least one trash-pickup day, coordinators used a loader to collect trash from every Ronell resident into a dumpster.
• B2 - Pasco County Point of Connection: Staff reported that Pasco County requested a new point of connection in eastern Pasco County, with a stated need by 2035. Approval would initiate planning and negotiations leading to an MOU or joint project agreement at a future board meeting. The board approved unanimously.
• B3 - Purchase and Sale Agreement: General counsel presented a purchase and sale agreement for Hillsborough County ELAP and environmental parcels with Florida Communities Trust interests related to the South Hillsborough Pipeline. The approximate $525,000 amount exceeds the $400,000 policy threshold, but most of the cost is restoration and environmental contribution due to the environmentally sensitive nature of the property. The board approved unanimously.
• C1 - Purchasing Policy Revisions: Staff presented Resolution 2026-003. The proposed revisions increase executive staff purchasing approval thresholds delegated by the general manager, align them with small-purchase thresholds and Florida Statute 287.017 categories, and add core technology infrastructure systems and services to the delegated aggregate expenditures list. The board approved unanimously.
• C2 - Long-Term Master Water Plan Update Services: Staff requested approval of Work Assignment 36 with Black & Veatch for integrated program management services for the five-year update of the long-term master water plan, required by November 2028. The assignment covers demand forecasting, screening of water supply alternatives, feasibility assessments, report co-authoring, public engagement, and coordination with ongoing planning. The amount is $1,853,941. The board approved unanimously.
• C3 - PFAS Interim Pilot Implementation and Operations Services: Staff presented a $1.98 million contract amendment with Veolia for implementation and operation of an interim pilot at the Surface Water Treatment Plant Water Quality Pilot Study, including $1.24 million in implementation/operations services and $735,000 in owner's allowances. The interim pilot will test near-term PFAS treatment using granulated activated carbon and ion exchange while a permanent pilot advances separately. Commissioner Wastel questioned the certainty of EPA PFAS rules and the litigation risk, noting he was counting votes and could be the margin. Staff responded that current regulations require April 2029 compliance, a proposed extension to 2031 is likely but not final, and pre-construction work is needed to meet the deadline if the extension holds. The motion passed 5 to 1; no roll-call breakdown was read, but Commissioner Wastel had said his vote could put approval on the margin.
• C4/C5/C6 - Acquired Permit Capacity and Balm Farm Permit Modification: Warren Hogg presented two capacity acquisitions. C4 is a $357,722 agreement with Damare Ruskin LLC plus up to $50,000 in verified transaction costs for 93,400 gallons per day, modeled to add nearly 91,000 gallons per day to the Balm Farm permit and reduce aquifer impacts by 10 percent. Commissioner Wastel noted Demare Family Farms is one of the last century-old pioneer tomato farm families in Hillsborough County and said they are selling because of NAFTA and agricultural regulations. C5 is a $349,003 agreement with Tampa Electric Company plus up to $50,000 in transaction costs for 91,134 gallons per day, modeled to add about 94,400 gallons per day. C6 is a companion application to modify the Balm Farm water use permit to add 367,900 gallons per day from the two new acquisitions and one existing Farmland Reserve agreement, bringing the permit to about 4.09 million gallons per day. The board approved all three unanimously, and the permit application will be held for 30 days to allow Hillsborough County and EPC to decide whether to seek arbitration before filing with the water management district.
• C7 - Environmental Monitoring Contracts: Staff requested approval of five contracts for environmental monitoring and assessment at the 10 well fields covered by the consolidated water use permit, continuing permit-required monitoring through water year 2030. Fifty firms downloaded the solicitation, ten submitted timely proposals, and five were judged qualified and assigned work based on experience and priorities. The board approved unanimously.

City of Tampa Water Department Report (D1)

• Rory Jones, City of Tampa Water Department director, described a system serving more than 744,000 customers across 220 square miles and 2,200 miles of pipe. He explained how the Hillsborough River, Tampa Bay Water, and the city's aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) system are coordinated, including drought operations and minimum flows and levels (MFL) support for the lower river.
• He presented a drought timeline: once-per-week watering began in December 2023 and was made permanent by the City Council in August 2024, saving about 5 MGD every day since. During the 2025-2026 drought, Tampa began buying finished water early, the district issued phased emergency orders, the middle pool was allowed to drop from 12 to 10 feet, the lower pool from 6 to 4 feet, and the spring MFL base flow was held at 20 cubic feet per second instead of the seasonal 24 cfs. Regional storage fell to about 20 percent, Bill Young Reservoir fell to 2.4 billion gallons, and Tampa's finished water purchases reached about 2.4 billion gallons. He said that without the one-day-per-week rule, Tampa would likely have drawn an additional 650 to 700 million gallons from Bill Young.
• Jones credited weekly coordination with Tampa Bay Water and the district and informal 'state of the river' email briefings to mayors and council members with building shared responsibility across the region. He said Mayor Castor personally called high irrigation users to encourage conversion to reclaimed water.
• He identified long-term challenges: Sulfur Springs is becoming saltier, Blue Sink became intermittent, and the city may need to offset reduced spring contributions with reservoir or regional water. He noted about 330 million gallons were currently going over the dam and could be captured in ASR if regulatory, storage, recovery, and water quality questions are resolved.
• He said the city will soon begin a 20-year water resources master plan, complete its water use permit renewal, keep advancing capital improvements, and revisit rates later through the appropriate process.
• Commissioner Wastel questioned how dense Tampa development is reconciled with the 82 MGD supply and noted Tampa Bay Water has no authority to deny certificates of occupancy. Jones said the city is not seeking to draw above 82 MGD, per-capita use is dropping as density rises, about 50 percent of use is irrigation, demand above the city's permit falls to Tampa Bay Water, and large projects such as the Hillsborough College site are included in growth planning. Wastel responded that no one had planned for 100 acres of dense development at Hillsborough College and that the political answer to his supply question remains difficult.
• Councilmember Miranda thanked Jones for the presentation and expressed support for the regional system's evolution since 1998. He said growth is a problem the region created by being attractive, Tampa has only about 3.5 percent of developable land left, and the city will need future help from the regional system.

Regional System Update (D2)

• Warren Hogg reported that the region entered a stage one drought alert on November 1 and a stage three shortage on March 1. Rainfall remained about 10 inches below normal at the end of September, and river flows were 28 MGD below normal, but conditions improved substantially with late-summer rain.
• C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir reached a low of 2.11 billion gallons in July, closed the fiscal year at 9.4 billion gallons, and was about 12.4 billion gallons (80 percent full) as of the previous night, still filling at more than 200 MGD.
• FY26 deliveries averaged 202.07 MGD, about 2 percent above the prior year, with 70 percent groundwater, 24 percent surface water, and 6 percent desalinated seawater. The desalination plant has operated continuously since December 2024. The consolidated permit well fields ended the fiscal year at a 108.73 MGD running average; compliance is expected by summer 2027. The agency budgeted 212.84 MGD of deliveries in the current year.
• Commissioner Wastel spoke in favor of continuing to pursue a second reservoir, saying it would make operations easier and reduce drought concerns.

Strategic Plan Review (D3)

• The continuous improvement director reported that Tampa Bay Water completed its 2022-2027 strategic plan. The proposed FY2027-2032 plan has five goals and 19 objectives covering reliable water supply, operational excellence/security/innovation, financial stability, stakeholder partnerships, and workforce capability. Staff incorporated a SWOT assessment and all 11 recommendations from the performance and management audit. The board was asked for feedback now, with formal approval requested in November and annual progress reports afterward.

Capital Projects Update (D4)

• Maribel Medina reported that the Surface Water Treatment Plant expansion remains on track. The project is about 15 percent complete, with spending aligned at 22 percent of the $167 million budget. Work includes the fifth treatment train, belt filter presses, new filters, chemical facilities, and solids drying beds.
• The South Hillsborough Pipeline is about 13 percent complete by linear feet of pipe, with spending aligned at 27 percent of the $461.2 million construction budget. Seventeen tunnel crossings were selected to limit traffic and environmental impacts; seven are complete, including the State Road 60 crossing, with six more microtunnel locations remaining. Work in segment A includes open-cut installation on Victoria Street, Ronel Drive, and Boyette Road; segment B includes the first microtunnel launch shaft and open-cut work along Balm Boyette Road.
• Community outreach included additional flaggers near schools and the Fitchhawk Boulevard sidewalk detour near the Fitch Hawk Sports Complex, custom signage to keep businesses visible, a CHOP local web page with a business directory, one-on-one business meetings, and coordination with the Hillsborough County Entrepreneur Collaborative Center. There were 16 media mentions and four influencer reels in the past two months.

Administrative Matters

• The receive-and-file motion was approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

• Consent agenda and administrative receive-and-file: approved unanimously.
• Pasco County point of connection request: approved unanimously, starting planning and negotiations for a future MOU/JPA.
• South Hillsborough Pipeline environmental purchase and sale agreement: approved unanimously.
• Purchasing policy Resolution 2026-003: approved unanimously.
• Long-term master water plan update support (Black & Veatch Work Assignment 36): approved unanimously for $1,853,941.
• Veolia PFAS interim pilot amendment: approved 5 to 1 for $1.98 million; one member opposed because of regulatory and litigation uncertainty.
• Damare Ruskin and Tampa Electric capacity acquisitions: approved unanimously; Balm Farm permit modification application approved unanimously.
• Five environmental monitoring contracts: approved unanimously.
• Strategic plan: board feedback requested now; formal approval scheduled for November.
• Balm Farm permit application: to be held 30 days to allow Hillsborough County and EPC to consider arbitration before filing.
• Next PFAS/full-scale pilot actions: permanent pilot construction and operations scope is to return to the board in spring 2027; the interim pilot is to operate through spring 2028.