What do all three have in common? They stink!!!
I was present for most of last night's council workshop on Georgetown's sewer rates.
Due to health issues of the past few days I couldn't stay for the entire show but I did hang in long enough to gather that this whole debacle is being drawn out for political gain on all fronts.
As I understand it the core issue is that duly elected Georgetown officials from days gone by entered into an agreement with New Albany' Sewer Board.
(Note Sewer Board ... NOT the City of New Albany nor it's Common Council!)
At the time all the legal minds were in agreement that it was a statutory legal agreement.
Georgetown dictated the terms and although our Sewer Board offered longer time periods, G'town's leadership seemed confident with a four year gig.
Now the time has come & gone. In fact it has been extended numerous times and still no discernable action on Georgetown's part to build their own plant.
Meanwhile even given their best efforts to treat it on their end, G'town's effluent is costing more for us to treat due to it's chemical composition than does our own sh@#.
In addition, that same chemical composition is eating away at our lines, pumps, & infrastructure more so than is normal.
So our Sewer Board after much deliberation elected to call in their marker.
Georgetown's new leaders are now crying FOUL!! And they're pulling out all the stops.
"Our fixed income citizens who are living on $600.00 a month can't afford to flush!"
"It cost us $84 to $100 thousand per month to maitain & operate our ill conceived antiquated system!"
"The Floyd County Government blocked the original plant site and we had to start over!"
And my favorite of all:
"The agreement in place will not stand up in court!" May I see your legal degree please?
So now enter the politicos.
Floyd County in conjunction with citizen lawsuits successfuly blocked the Edwardsville area site because of currying favor to potential future developers for that area.
Now they are trying to rectify that move and curry favor with Georgetown voters by offering to pay for another site on the west side of G'town contingent on the County securing Federal funds.
Said funds are at least a year out, by the way.
Then comes our very own Common Council leadership to weigh in on another community's business.
"We can't just let 'em go broke!"
"We gotta do the right thing!"
Meanwhile our Sewer Board is saying "It's not a fine, it is just what you, via your duly elected officials, agreed to do!"
So if G'town wins and our Council chooses to saddle us and our system with the burden for perpetuity, does this mean I can cry foul and walk away from my legal financial obligations as well??
Who really wins/loses here?
Inquiring minds want to know!!
While our council argues over crap (literally), I read this a.m. that Jeffersonvill is applying for $25 million in tax credits for a $100 million convention center.
ReplyDeleteCan we swap councils with them?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBayernfan,
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel any better, New Albany also applied for $25 million in the same tax credit program. An entity controlled by the City of Jeffersonville and an entity controlled by the City of New Albany were two of the 249 New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) applicants for 2009. Applications are competitive; for 2008, only 102 of the approximately 260 applicants received allocations. We’ll know by October 15 whether either (or hopefully both) cities win an allocation of credits.
The NMTC program is the federal government’s largest program for stimulating investment in “Low Income Communities,” which is defined as a census tract where the median income is not more than 80% of the average median income for the area. For a family of four, the median income in the Louisville MSA is around $50,000 and most New Albany census tracts have median incomes in the $29,000-$40,000 range for families of four. Investments made in virtually any part of New Albany could use the credits. Applications are not easy (ours was 109 pages of legalese) and the credits come gift wrapped in bundles of red tape. However, the credits are a huge benefit to the communities which receive them. NMTCs were used in Louisville as a funding source for the Frazier Museum, the Mohammad Ali Center, The Henry Clay/YWCA, C21 Museum/Hotel, and the new downtown Marriott.
Louisville Community Development Bank has received $110 million in tax credits under this program over the past six years. Until this April, no one from Floyd or Clark had ever applied. I first learned about this program from reading the Courier-Journal about six years ago when Louisville received its first $63 million under the program. When the New Albany Redevelopment Commission voted to apply for the credits, as far as I could tell, none on the commission were familiar with the program.
There were large differences in how the Jeffersonville and New Albany applications came about. Jeffersonville’s application was a pure city effort, from what I understand. Jeffersonville officials initiated the idea, taxpayer dollars paid for the consultants, and city staff compiled all of the data. The New Albany application was a partnership between the city, the New Albany Urban Enterprise Association, Inc., and Develop New Albany. No city funds were spent on the New Albany application and the idea did not originate with the city council. That being said, I think New Albany made a strong application.
P.S. I cannot forget the help New Albany received from the Horseshoe Foundation. A law firm in Indianapolis assisted with our application; their fee was $30,000. Horseshoe Foundation, upon request from Mayor England, contributed $15,000. The UEA and DNA each contributed $7,500.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDan Chandler wrote: "No city funds were spent on the New Albany application and the idea did not originate with the city council."
ReplyDeleteI believe there is an ordinance against ideas originating with the city council. Just our luck that it's one of the few codes that are consistently enforced hereabouts.
I guess my point on this would be that Jeff city officials seem to be more interested in these kinds of opportunities than our council. At least that would be the public perception.
ReplyDeleteBut I appreciate that info. I hadn't heard anything about New Albany applying for that!
I guess my point on this would be that Jeff city officials seem to be more interested in these kinds of opportunities than our council.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%. The City of Louisville has a whole department dedicated to grant writing. New Albany does not. There are many state and federal programs in which New Albany does not participate. I've read anonymous bloggers write that the city is over staffed. Maybe. But not having a grant writer leaves money on the table. Such people often bring in far more than they cost.