WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — Winter Springs is breaking up with the company that operates its water and sewer systems after a tumultuous six-year contract.
More accurately, the company is breaking up with the city.
Thursday, Veolia North America leaders sent the city manager a letter saying they’d walk away from their contract after it ends in late September and opt not to submit an RFQ and compete for a new, multi-million dollar per year contract with the city.
In follow-up conversations, company spokesmen said the city had not followed through on promises to fund and build new water treatment plants to replace its aging structures. They also said the city has had problems paying its bills on time.
“A partnership must be a shared commitment to achieving those goals,” a Veolia spokesman wrote. “If one party cannot make such commitments, we believe it is best for that partnership to end.”
If there was any heartbreak on Winter Springs’ side, it wasn’t easy to find.
“When you’re paying a vendor big bucks, like $2.5 million per year, you expect transparency and some quality customer service, and we weren’t getting that,” Commissioner Victoria Bruce said.
Bruce is among the many city residents who have urged Veolia to upgrade its own performance. She cited a 2021 spill that killed fish and other wildlife in a nearby pond and other maintenance issues that have plagued the system.
She said the lack of transparency led to the $200,000 fine, which the city is trying to pay or avoid.
“Mistakes happen, yeah, but we don’t want to find out in a roundabout way,” Bruce said, adding that the breakup was inevitable.
Bruce said the city was taking steps to honor its obligations. The city raised rates for the first time since 2005 to pay for system upgrades, including two new treatment plants. She said the city recently got permits from FDEP for the east plant and was most of the way through the design process.
The deadline for companies to submit RFQs to take on the contract ended on Friday, which will allow the city to pick a new partner. Bruce said the city would be taking over the operations of its lift stations, which pump sewage from lower ground to higher ground.
A source familiar with the city’s government said the late payments have also been taken care of. They attributed the issue to a temporary financial staff member who has since been replaced by someone more qualified.
“Just so excited to finally have this put behind us and get this thing done so that it will be good for the next 100 years or so,” Bruce said.
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