VERO BEACH (Florida) PRESS-JOURNAL

July 3, 2008

Migrant camp hooked up to Fellsmere water after annexation

By Henry A. Stephens

FELLSMERE — When some 30 migrant-labor families return to their mobile-home camp in Fellsmere in the fall, officials say, they probably won't notice a difference in the way their water tastes. But they'll be getting it from the city.

"Since they annexed into the city, they're required to get on our water system," city Finance Director Larry Napier said Wednesday.

Napier said the city water will replace water from a private "package" plant the citrus group has used to get drinking water for the workers.

The city last year annexed 18,000 acres owned by Fellsmere Joint Venture, a group of citrus growers.

Most of it was groves and pastures, City Manager Jason Nunemaker said, but the land also included a migrant labor camp at the north end of Willow Street.

The workers, who work crops in other states in the summer, are expected to return between September and November to work citrus in Fellsmere, Napier said.

But when they get back, he said, they won't have any surprising water bills awaiting them. Napier said the city is extending a single water line to one meter on the property and would bill Fellsmere Joint Venture for the water.

Napier said Fellsmere Joint Venture probably won't pass on portions of the water bills to the tenants.

"I'm sure they would get this water as part of their compensation for working there," he said.

Richard Carnell, the group's attorney, couldn't be reached for comment.

He said the city water might not taste different, but would be treated at stricter standards than those governing smaller systems.

The City Council is scheduled tonight to consider authorizing the engineering firm Masteller & Moler Inc. of Vero Beach to design the system.

Napier said the project has been estimated at $90,000, with $10,000 of that for the engineering.