David Lindsay

The staff of the East County Water Control District (ECWCD) is moving this week into a new administration building at 601 East County Lane, the site where they have previously been located. But over the years, they moved from a small “sick office building” to offices in other areas of Lehigh and finally back to E. County Lane where the administrative staff worked in trailers for several years. From there they worked at the I&E Building.

The ECWCD is planning a dedication ceremony and luncheon on Thursday, May 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the public is invited to attend and enjoy refreshments, take tours of the building, and enjoy live onsite entertainment.

“Today, we’re moving. We are using our own employees and everyone is excited about the move,” said David Lindsay, executive director of the ECWCD. Employees began packing up everything last week and the certificate of occupancy was issued by the county this past Friday, according to Mike Cook, the assistant district manager. Some of the dignitaries to attend will include Sen. Mike Bennett, Commissioners Frank Mann and John Manning, and State Rep. Matthew Caldwell.

The ECWCD administrative employees have been working for several months now in one half of the two-story I&E Building off of West 6th Street. The new site will add more working space, Cook said.

Over the past few years, moving into permanent offices has been the goal of the board of commissioners, who approved the construction of the $850,000 building.

MEL TOADVINE The new building that houses the staff of the East County Water Control District on East County Lane. The name of the building will be installed on the front this week.

Members of the ECWCD Board of Commissioners are Mike Welch, chairman; David Deetscreek, vice chairman, Nate Stout, secretary, and Mike Bonacolta, treasurer. There is a vacant seat on the board that had been filled by Desmond Barrett, who has become a minister and has moved away from Lehigh. In November, Stout’s and Barrett’s seats will be on the ballot.

At one time, the board had considered purchasing the I&E Building but plans changed when the corporation owning it went into bankruptcy. Comptroller Brenda Fallon said they had a purchase of sale agreement but it was withdrawn when bankruptcy was declared.

Lindsay said that was when the board decided to go back to the original site and construct a 6,800 feet office building.

“When the board and the staff worked together, it was important to be frugal in the new construction,” Lindsay said. “What we have is a great one-story office building now with enough room for our staff and a good place for the public to come to our board meetings,” Lindsay said.

The building faces a northerly direction and is adjacent to the new maintenance building, which houses the equipment where the outside crew is based. Also nearby is the shed referred to as the Serrano Building which is used today to store herbicides and chemicals used in the district. Eddie Serrano was an employee of the ECWCD and the building shed was dedicated to his memory.

MEL TOADVINE This is the meeting room at the new offices of the ECWCD. It will seat a large crowd for public meetings.

The ECWCD is responsible for the management of stormwater throughout Lehigh.

That includes 311 miles of rights-of-way along the canals, which it maintains, about 25 lakes including Harns Marsh which is a preserve, and some 22 bridges and 360 culvert crossings. They also maintain three parks in Lehigh where picnic tables are located, but no recreational equipment. The parks include those in memory of Jim Fleming, previous board member, Barbara Farrell who served for years on the board, and for Charlie Matheny, who was heavily involved with Lehigh for several years.

In total, they maintain 1,298 acres of preserves.

Paula Camberato, the assistant to the district manager, said there is a very large meeting room at the new building.

“It’s around 40 by 30 feet and it will seat a big crowd of people,” she said. In addition, there is a spill-over room, which adds much more room if there is a large gathering. The rooms could be rented out to other agencies that need more room for their meetings.

MEL TOADVINE Workers spent last week preparing the grounds around the new office building for grass.

The East County Water District Board of Commissioners meets on the third Monday of each month. Most recently, it has met in the Sheriff’s Annex on Homestead Rd. The next meeting, Camberato said, will be at 6:30 p.m. on May 21.

“We are hoping for more people to attend our meetings and see what we are doing and gaining public input,” she said.

Mike Cook is the assistant district manager who announced the acceptance of the building by the county on Friday.

“We received our CO (Certificate of Occupancy) Friday morning and now we have the green light to move in,” he said.

“The general contractor was Owens, Ames and Kimball of Fort Myers,” Cook said.

He noted that the new building is around 1,800 square feet larger, with much more needed room for the staff.

The ECWCD was formed back in the 1950s with its goal to drain the water of the area and construct canals and maintain them. The water control district is not associated with FGUA, which provides drinking water and sewer services to many in the community.

Today there are 30 employees and there is a job freeze, according to Camberato.

Earlier board members met in a small building on E. County Lane. It was not large enough for those who attended the public meetings. When some of the employees began feeling ill, it was discovered that the building had severe mold problems and it was declared a “sick building” by health and environment services. It was vacated and the staff moved to other offices, including the Admiral Lehigh Resort building which has since been torn down.

The small building with the mold was also demolished last year.

The new building is about a mile or so away from the I&E Building.

Music at the dedication ceremonies will be provided by the Len Makowski Trio.

“They will be performing throughout the event,” Camberato said.

If you would like to attend the ceremonies, you should contact the ECWCD by May 10 so they can make plans for the number of people attending.

You can contact them by phone at 368-0044. You can also RSVP online at carlayu@ecwcd.com and tell them how many guest will be coming with you.