Forward Motion
We continue our timeline of activity for EU’s application for wastewater certification on the Island.
On February 2nd the PSC posted the NOTICE OF PROPOSED AGENCY ACTION ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR TEMPORARY WAIVER OF RULE 25-30.033(1)(p) and (q), F.A.C., BY ENVIRONMENTAL UTILITIES, LLC. This document details the decision made at the Commission Conference on January 5th denying EU’s Motion to Bifurcate and Temporary Rule Waiver. You can view the video of the Commission Conference at our Sewer/Utility Reporting page.
The informal Action Committee who had been working in opposition to EU’s application was formally approved at the PIE Board meeting on February 8th. The members are Linda Cotherman (Chair), Theresa Blanco, Heather Stout and Meryl Schaffer. At the same meeting, the Board voted to approve the $10,000 expenditure to retain attorney Kelsky Law, with further expenditures not to exceed 10% of the original $10,000 retainer without board approval.
On February 4th, Little Gasparilla Island Property Owners Association (LGIPOA) officially became a Party of Record. This means that they are now active participants in the future Administrative Hearing for this application.
Charlotte County joined the PSC docket list of “Interested Persons” on February 12th. An “Interested Person” is someone (or an entity) that requests notification of any orders or decisions made by the PSC in this docket. The letter from the Office of the Charlotte County Attorney lists both Jean Stasio (Assistant County Attorney) and Craig Rudy (Charlotte County Utilities) as contacts. As of March 1, there are 121 interested persons in the docket.
On February 19th, the PSC granted EU’s request for confidential classification of certain financial documents filed with their application. According to the Order that was posted, the information contained in EU’s Application, for which confidentiality was requested, consisted of “personal financial and other information such as personal residence, personal vehicles owned, personal property owned, personal investment, personal indebtedness, etc.” The PSC determined that the information in question satisfied the criteria set forth in Florida state law for classification as proprietary confidential business information.
Kelsky Law quickly filed a Motion for Reconsideration on February 25th. It argues that “Environmental Utilities, LLC’s financial health is central to the determination of whether it can satisfy the requirements necessary to obtain a Certificate of Authorization” and requests that the Commission “reconsider its February 19, 2019 order and require the publication of the financial information the order protects.”
There has been no response to the Motion posted to the docket at this time.
