RECREATION
The McCarty Ranch Preserve has three large lakes. A water treatment
plant may be in operation by 2040. Water collected will be piped to city
residents and businesses.
Construction of the treatment plant may begin in 2035 with
completion in 2040.
“This project is to meet the city’s water needs for decades
to come,” Cunningham says.
The path to acquisition of the land for the project was twisted
and complicated.
In May 1992, the city learned a harsh lesson on the importance
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20 Port St. Lucie Magazine
of water for its future. Water storage tanks used to
provide water to thousands of city residents went dry. Ten
thousand residents had no water and 40,000 more suffered
reduced pressure. Lesson learned, the city moved to take over
the utility service that had been provided by St. Lucie County
to 17,000 customers.
About four years ago, the city’s utility department started
trying to acquire the former McCarty Ranch property for
water storage and treatment. The ranch had sold off the last
piece of itself in 2004 and Bay Hill Holdings, the owner, was
in default on the loan held by Ocean Bank. When the property
tax wasn’t paid, the city bought the tax certificate for the
parcel with the big lake on it and planned to negotiate with
the other 10 tax certificate owners for their certificates. But
the certificates were all redeemed in 2012 and that avenue
was closed. In June 2012, Ocean Bank filed for foreclosure
and set up an affiliate company called McCarty Ranch. The
affiliate bought the property at auction. Scenting success, the
city reopened negotiations and this time, succeeded in buying
the property for just over $10 million.
In June, 2014, the city closed on a deal with Kennedy
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