The city of St. Petersburg has come a long way since its stormwater and sewage problems led to the city council signing a consent order with state officials to make over $300 million in stormwater improvements in 2017, but that was just the beginning of what is expected to be a $3 billion investment over the next 20 years.

“It’s necessary,” Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley said on Monday. “We have the choice of what kind of service do we want, and we’re hearing from citizens that they want clean water and they don’t want spills. If that’s the level of service we want, then there’s a cost associated with that. And we can’t have one without the other.”

Tankersley was part of a press conference held by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman at Clam Bayou Nature Preserve in South St. Pete to hail the improvements his administration has made to deal with stormwater and sewage issues that were perhaps the most challenging events of his tenure in office.

“From 2015 to 2017 more rain led to more overflows, spills, intentional discharges and fines. And no matter what was happening elsewhere in many other communities in the area, all eyes were on St. Pete, and on our aging wastewater system,” the mayor said in his opening remarks.

All told, the city dumped and spilled nearly a billion gallons of sewage into local waterways in that time period, ultimately leading to signing that consent order.

So far, so good, says Kriseman.

“We haven’t had a single, wet weather-related problem within our system in more than two years,” he said. But he emphasized that this was no “mission accomplished” press conference, citing the $3 billion costs expected to maintain the city’s water infrastructure system over the coming two decades.

That dollar figure is similar to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s PIPES program. That’s a 20-year plan to upgrade the city’s water and wastewater system that will cost $2.9 billion. 

Before the press conference began, the city aired a six-minute video featuring some staff members touting some of the changes that have been made in recent years.

ABOVE: WATCH THE SIX-MINUTE VIDEO

Tankersley, who began working for the city in early 2016, says that the sewage spills were a “very traumatic time” for his staff as well as for the community. “It wasn’t the staff that failed, it was the system that failed, but the staff felt very guilty about that,” he said.

The incidents led to a state investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, but all criminal charges were dropped after the city council approved a consent order to improve the sewage system.

The issue was also used against Kriseman in his 2017 reelection campaign by his opponent, former Mayor Rick Baker. Kriseman won the contest by three percentage points.

Monday's event was part of the mayor’s “Faring Well Tour,” in which he is holding events touting some of the accomplishments during his eight years leading St. Petersburg.