Sanford sets sights on long-term wastewater upgrades

SANFORD, Fla. — Chris Cranias knows the value of having his restaurant, The Original Christo’s – in the heart of downtown Sanford.

“There’s only one downtown Sanford – to duplicate what we have here is next to impossible,” said Cranias.

But that comes with a tradeoff, dealing with a 150-year-old city, and its aging, and sometimes failing, storm and wastewater infrastructure.

In recent years, the city has moved businesses like Christo’s onto new lift stations, and off city-wide systems that have become overstressed with rapid growth – and have created flooding problems for the businesses.

As part of the city’s overall effort to gradually upgrade the aging system, the Sanford City Commission is expected to retroactively approve the cost of a new pump and equipment that keeps wastewater moving for hundreds of homes throughout the city.

City officials say the decision stems from when a vacuum pump system that keeps sewage moving for 600 Sanford homes failed in April 2025, leading to the installation of new equipment, which amounts to a cost of about $60,000. 

Cranias says it’s an upgrade that’s well worth the cost.

“Without upgrading the whole residential area and specifically the downtown area, it’s very antiquated – we’ve got to get with the times – but they also have to work with the current infrastructure,” said Cranias.

Sanford Public Works and Utilities Director Brynt Johnson says the city was already working on major upgrades to the city’s vacuum sewer system when the failure happened earlier this year. 

City leaders have approved millions of dollars for the long-term upgrades – improvements that should prevent problems at homes and businesses – even when storms put stress on those systems.

“The city is finally starting to correct the problems they’ve had with flooding with a lot more storms that we’re having,” said Cranias.