State sues to force repairs to 2 water systems in Polk

BARTOW – The state has filed lawsuits against the owner of two private water systems, asking the court to enforce agreements mandating improvements. 

The systems, Alturas Utilities southeast of Bartow and Sunrise Utilities in Auburndale, collectively serve about 350 residential customers and a handful of commercial accounts.

In 2017, Stuart Sheldon, representing the respective utilities, signed consent orders with the state agreeing to upgrade and repair the two systems, according to the lawsuit, but none of the deadlines set forth in the orders has been met.

Roland Reis, chief legal counsel with the Florida Department of Health office in Bartow, said Tuesday the maintenance issues haven’t impacted the water quality in either system. The lawsuits, filed Friday in Circuit Court, are intended to avoid that problem, he said.

“We’re trying to be proactive,” he said, “to keep the systems from falling into disrepair and maybe a catastrophic situation.”

The state already has imposed fines totaling about $5,300 against both Alturas and Sunrise, he said, and the owners face more fines if repairs aren’t completed.

Sheldon referred questions about the lawsuits to Leslie Szabo, a co-owner and manager of the two water utilities. Szabo, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, didn’t return telephone calls for comment Tuesday.

The problems with the systems involve aging water tanks, according to the lawsuits. In Alturas, the 3,000-gallon holding tank hasn’t been inspected since 2012, which violates the state’s mandate that water tanks undergo inspection every five years.

In Auburndale, the Sunrise Utilities system, which services the Sun Acres community, was under state mandate in 2016 to clean and recoat its water tank. According to the lawsuit, the state has no record of that being done. When the tank developed a pinhole leak later that year, the repair was done by non-certified workers, in violation of state mandates.

Reis said the lawsuits are intended to force the owners to bring their systems into compliance.

“Our concern is with the integrity of these systems,” he said.

Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. Follow her on Twitter @southpolkscene.