MOUNT DORA, Fla. -- Mount Dora has spent more than $9 million on a sewage plant, the biggest project ever built in one Lake County city. Channel 9 has discovered the plant never had to be built.

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The city's second waste water treatment plant finally started treating sewage only two weeks ago, even though it was ready to go two years ago and taxpayers have been paying for it since 1998.

Mount Dora city leaders thought they desperately needed the new plant to handle all the sewage from new homes. But, it turns out, all they needed was a quick and inexpensive fix.

As far as sewage plants go, the new one is a beauty and is top of the line. According to city council member James Homich, it's totally unnecessary.

"The residents that currently live here didn't need it and they're the ones who are paying for it,' said Homich.

Back in 1998, sewage was overwhelming the city's old plant. It was at capacity. So commissioners spent $9 million on their biggest project ever, the new plant. About a year later, the city sent a letter to the public works director, firing him for lack of "long term improvements" to the department.

The new public works director took a look at the sewage capacity problems. He used a special camera to locate and patch cracks in sewer lines that were sending ground water to the old plant.

That new director said they already had the staff and equipment to do it and probably spent less than $100,000. His work managed to cut flow to that old plant by 40 percent. It is no longer at capacity, which is the reason they built the new plant in the first place.

Even though the new plant was finished in August 2003, they just started using it two weeks ago. It's at a fraction of its capacity and managers say it's used to make sure the equipment is working properly.

The city says they will soon need the capacity and was able to build the plant at 1998 prices.

Critics say they could have built the plant with impact fees on new homes, rather than with sewer bills on existing customers.

Mount Dora issued bonds to pay for the new plant. The city will be making payments of approximately $600,000 a year until 2023. That works out to about $60 a year for every single citizen.