ACME Environmental Solutions is at it again! I’ve talked to you about this company before and am glad to do it again. There is a community of homes by the name of Santa Maria in a relatively new subdivision across the main road and up the hill from the Carnival Cruise ship docks. It was developed with relatively small lots, but for the most part the community is made up of middle class, concrete homes. They have a few small stores, a church, a school and a sports field. The original design for the community sewer was to use septic tanks for each home. According to Dan Taylor, the General Manager of ACME, “septic tank systems are fine when the density of the homes is appropriate. In this case the homes are too close for the drain fields to function”. Carnival Cruise Lines and the Municipality of Roatán worked with ACME to design a sewer system that would serve the 128 home community for the long run. The funds available only permitted the funding of the installation of the collection system and a portion of the treatment plant. According to the mayor, funding will be found next fiscal year for the balance of the work. In the mean time ACME is excavating the main and lateral lines into an existing community. According to Taylor, “it’s a real mess for the community but we’re pushing real hard and are about 20% ahead of schedule.” Living on the island as long as I have, I can honestly say that I don’t know of any large projects coming in ahead of schedule. We’ll see how this works out but at this point they are about 60% finished and on track to complete the project in record time. Not only is the project good for the community of Santa Maria but for a local company to show the ability to complete projects on budget and ahead of schedule is a good benchmark for future construction on the island.