GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The city council approved water and wastewater connection fees during its Tuesday night meeting for new residential developments. 

The capacity connection fees were in response to a study conducted by Orange Park’s CPH Consulting on how planned communities like the Rookery, which is approved for as many as 2,100 homes, will affect the city’s utilities. 

The council approved increases from $1,000 to $2,372 for water connections and from $2,000 to $2,531 for wastewater. 

Those fees were based on the city’s current metered levels of service of 220 gallons a day of water and 185 gallons of wastewater. 

According to Acting Water Utilities Director Scott Schultz, the fees will also allow the water utilities department to build an emergency fund. 

The council approved the first reading of an ordinance that would allow residents to vote to allow a notary to swear in members of the city council if a judge isn’t available and to allow the city attorney, and city manager, to live within the city’s utility service area, not the city’s limit. 

The council also amended the death benefits for its police department employees to allow payment before retirement if the officer dies in the line of duty. 

In other business: 

• The council agreed to pay Gresco $25,117 for fault indicators to be used by the electric department. 

• The council agreed to pay $36,000 to the Florida Group for state government relations consulting for 2026. 

• The council agreed on a $475,000 grant from the State Legislative Budget for the St. Johns River Trail, Phase 1.