Cape’s North UEP 6 put on advance timeline
North UEP 6, a component of the city of Cape Coral’s Utilities Expansion Project in the northeast Cape, has been moved ahead of schedule with its affected area expanded to include more properties.
The action came in response to a severe and ongoing water shortage in northeast Cape Coral and moved the completion timeline up by five years.
City Manager Mike Ilczyszyn said UEP scheduling is important to the investment community, real estate community and residents who are possibly preparing funds for their share of the project that will bring city utilities service to areas still on well and septic.
He also said residents of the North 4 UEP will receive some relief, while North 6 property owners, who thought they had an upwards of 10 years before being hit with UEP assessments, will have to adjust their timeline.
“It’s important Council takes this action, so we can publish a new map and allow them to be able to get the word out and start making adjustments in their home,” Ilczyszyn said at Wednesday’s Cape Coral City Council meeting.
Councilmember Joe Kilraine, who pulled Resolution 65-25 from the consent agenda for discussion, said North 6 is up and has already begun work.
“In addition to that, we have expanded the area of six — it encompasses the rest of the restricted area the district placed under restriction,” he said of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which has imposed water-use limitations for irrigation as water levels in the Mid Hawthorne Aquifer are critically low.
The aquifer is the source for well water in the north Cape.
“This fast-tracked initiative will improve critical water infrastructure to residents facing declining aquifer levels,” city officials said in a release issued Thursday. “With North 1 scheduled to come online later this year, the City anticipates initial improvements in groundwater levels, with further recovery expected once North 6 is fully operational in 2030.”
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