Waterline upgrades scheduled for Saint Jude Harbor
The Greater Pine Island Water Association recently announced the water company will begin waterline upgrades in the Saint Jude Harbor neighborhood in St. James City. The project will involve the replacement of the current 40-year-old sub-aqueous neighborhood feeder main. This main will be replaced with a new land-based 10-inch water mainline.
The new water main will begin at Stringfellow Road and run along the north side of Laratonda Road to the intersection with Stabile Road. From this point, the 10-inch water main will cross Laratonda Road and continue on the south and on the west side of Stabile Road to where it intersects with the old sub-aqueous water main near the intersection of Crestwell Court.
According to Bill Thacher, water company general manager, the new water main is designed to increase neighborhood demand capacity, add three fire hydrant assemblies to the area and provide dependable water service for many years to come.
According to Thacher, the project will be handled by Stevens and Layton from Fort Myers at the cost of $115,000. This money to be used will be taken from the water association’s general fund along with some FEMA funding received by the GPIWA after Hurricane Charley.
Thacher said the installation of the new water main in Saint Jude Harbor will be similar to last year’s work done on Sanibel Boulevard and the Eighth Avenue neighborhood in St. James City.
As for the digging in easements, the residents of Saint Jude Harbor need not be concerned, according to Thacher.
“Since the work will be done along the west side of Stabile, there will be some digging in the easement areas and there will be a need in some cases to take up driveways, but, like the work done during our last project, all areas that are disturbed will be restored to like or better conditions than they were before they were dug. These repairs will take place at the end of the project,” Thacher said.
The construction of the waterline upgrade is scheduled to begin in mid to late August and it is estimated it will take about 60 days to complete. According to Thacher, the waterline upgrade project will only cause minimal interruption of water service to the homes in Saint Jude Harbor.
“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, water service disruption to your home will be minimized as it is anticipated that service to the Saint Jude Harbor neighborhoods will only be discontinued for a short period when the old water main is disconnected and the new water main is joined to the existing system,” Thacher said. “Residents who live on Stabile Road, north of Crestwell Court, will also experience a brief service interruption when the service line to their homes is disconnected and then re-attached to the new water main.”
According to Thacher, the GPIWA will make every effort to notify residents in advance of water shut-offs via the Pine Island Eagle and/or with the issuance of precautionary boil water notices.
The next project to undergo upgrading of water lines will be several streets off of Island Avenue in Matlacha.