CLEWISTON -- From the Clewiston City Manager and staff: 

Dates to Remember
February 16, 2023 – Golf Course Advisory Board Meeting
February 20, 2023 – City Commission Meeting
February 27, 2023 – Tentative Planning & Zoning Board Meeting

Office of the City Manager
Citizens, Business Owners & Other Interested Parties:

The 2023 Florida Legislative Session is underway in Tallahassee. The Hendry County delegation which represents Clewiston includes Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House of Representatives member Lauren Melo. The City is honored and very fortunate to have such qualified and capable representation once again in the upcoming session.

To kick off this year’s legislative cycle, the City of Clewiston hosted the members on Dec. 5, 2022, and requested the delegation again support the City’s infrastructure improvement funding priority needs request during the upcoming session. The City’s lone request this year is for state funding to upgrade the community’s aging Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to meet modern federal and state treatment standards and expand the facility’s capacity to provide for growth and meet future demand in the most environmentally friendly manner possible.

The vintage 1985 Clewiston WWTP has served the community well over the decades but is in need of improved technology enhancements particularly those that will allow the treated effluent to meet reuse water quality standards and provide for irrigation type uses which reduces the City’s reliance on groundwater resources for such needs.

The long planned comprehensive WWTP project is estimated to cost $14 million. Fortunately, thanks to the leadership of the City’s former Congressional Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, the City was approved near the end of December, 2022, for a federal appropriation of $3 million for this project which lowered the outstanding need amount to $11 million.

Congressional redistricting moved Clewiston out of Congressman Diaz-Balart’s district in 2023, but the City owes a huge debt of thanks for his efforts to secure this significant appropriation for the City.

This week city staff will wrap up the necessary documentation to formalize the City’s $11 million request to both the house and senate, so the funding can be considered for inclusion in the next fiscal year state budget which begins July 1, 2023.

The City is very appreciative of outside support received for the WWTP project funding request from the Hendry County Board of Commissioners, the Hendry Economic Development Council, area business leaders and the community at large.

This is a critical project which will be essential to serve economic development interests both within and outside the city limits particularly to take full advantage of state grant funded investments already approved to provide improved wastewater and water service capabilities along the U.S. 27 highway corridor west of the City to and including the Airglades International Airport site. These corridor utility improvements are under design with partial construction of the wastewater force main already complete with enhanced service availability to the entire area anticipated within the next 24 months.

The City is sincerely thankful to our elected federal and state representatives for the unprecedented progress in recent years to provide grant funding to meet community needs which allows city officials to avoid the undesirable alternative of pursuing borrowed funds to meet demands which would adversely impact customer utility rates. I also need to acknowledge the unwavering support and tenacity exhibited by our Clewiston City Commissioners both past and present who have diligently pursued the priorities necessary to keep the community moving in the right direction. 

Thank you for your continued support and interest in the City of Clewiston.

Randy Martin
Clewiston City Manager