On Tuesday June 28, 2016, an overflow crowd of 400 plus attended the Sumter County commissioners’ meeting in the Colony Cottage Recreation Center in the Villages. People attended because they were concerned about a water permit for a water bottling company.
The state permit was issued earlier this month to SWR Properties, also known as Spring Water Resources, to pump nearly 500,000 gallons of water daily from two springs along County Road 470 near Sumterville.
The Sumter County board has authority to approve zoning, building permits and roadway improvements needed for the pumping facility, and citizens requested that these be denied.
Among the many, many activists were Joe Flynn and Cris Stanley, who was working the table leading into the large room. OSFR was represented by your historian.
Too bad the Sumter County Commissioners are so disinterested in this topic, despite over 400 citizens showing up to express concern. Exactly WHO should these commissioners be listening to?