City and county utility officials described a proposed interim wholesale wastewater agreement to allow Brooksville development to proceed while the city expands its treatment capacity.

Public works director Richard Weeks summarized the draft: the Hernando County Water & Sewer District would accept and treat up to 493,000 gallons per day of wastewater from specified city properties. Under the proposal, the City of Brooksville would design and pay for force mains, metering and connections; the county would own and maintain the metering facilities once installed. Billing would be monthly, on meter readings. Until the county adopts a wholesale rate, Brooksville would pay the county’s existing commercial class rate and a capacity reservation charge of $5.68 per thousand gallons in lieu of development connection or impact fees.

The agreement term in the draft is ten years but includes language that would permit earlier termination once the city’s expanded plant is operational. Both parties acknowledged applicable federal and state environmental and permitting rules and said the city will enforce the county’s free‑treatment requirements within its system.

Why it matters: The agreement is positioned as an interim, pragmatic approach to enable near‑term development and avoid unnecessary delays while the city increases its own plant capacity. The reservation charge and commercial billing mechanics are intended to balance developer demand against county capacity management.

Next steps: City and county legal and utility staff will finalize the agreement language and return it to each governing body for approval and implementation. County representatives projected design and construction could take two to three years following approvals.