The prospect of treating Islamorada sewage in Key Largo inched closer to reality on Tuesday, as the Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District board reaffirmed its desire to work towards a written agreement.</p><p>The 5-0 vote came after the board learned that Islamorada will not connect to a transmission line being built in the southern end of Key Largo. Instead, Islamorada would have to pay for a separate pipe to carry its sewage to the treatment plant at mile marker 100.5</p><p>“There’s no pressure on Key Largo now,” said board member Andy Tobin, who then made the motion to “continue our negotiations in good faith...but with no commitment to sign an interlocal agreement.”</p><p>The motion was sought by General Manager Chuck Fishburn, who said Islamorada officials needed some kind of assurance that the district was still considering a contract.</p><p>The Islamorada Village Council is scheduled to discuss detailed plans and costs for various options, including contracting with the Key Largo district, on Nov. 18.</p><p>“Islamorada is putting all their eggs in your basket,” Fishburn said. “I think both boards want a continual reaffirmation going forward.”</p><p>After years of back-and-forth talks between the two bodies, the Village Council two weeks ago directed Village Manager Ken Fields to initiate preliminary contract negotiations with the district.</p><p>Fields and Fishburn, along with finance, legal and engineering staff of both bodies, met last week and came to general agreement on most issues, Fishburn said.</p><p>“The meeting went very well,” said Fishburn, who had previously stated publicly that Islamorada might never partner with Key Largo as long as Ken Fields was Village Manager.</p><p>Fields echoed the sentiments in an e-mail, and stated “we quickly reached agreement in concept on an approach that should benefit both jurisdictions.”</p><p>According to district documents, the contract would essentially designate Islamorada as a customer of the district to be charged a certain rate for the treatment of wastewater.</p><p>Islamorada would still have to design and build a system to collect sewage from properties and pump it to the Key Largo district boundary north of Tavernier Creek.</p><p>However, Alabama-based firm IntegraWater made its pitch Tuesday to be the third player in an Islamorada-Key Largo agreement.</p><p>Vice President Wes Self presented a proposal to purchase capacity at Key Largo’s treatment plant — the same amount of capacity at the same price the district has offered to Islamorada.</p><p>Three weeks ago, Self gave a proposal to the Village Council to build out and manage Islamorada’s sewer system for millions of dollars less than the village’s current estimates.</p><p>Self said an exclusive agreement with the district “would’ve given us a leg up in competing for a contract [in Islamorada], we know that.</p><p>“We just wanted to secure the opportunity to have one treatment plant,” said Self, adding that could save Islamorada $30-$40 million in capital costs.</p><p>District board members and the district’s attorney, Thomas Dillon, agreed that a contract with IntegraWater would circumvent normal bidding processes and might force Islamorada to contract with IntegraWater as well.</p><p>“If we give you this exclusive contract, it prevents Islamorada from doing business with anybody else,” Tobin said.