The senior editor is relaying the Bookseller's live report from the city council chamber and tonight's work session about Georgetown, New Albany and the sewer system that binds.
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Now, at last, the attorney for Georgetown takes the podium and asks for a slowdown, a Q & A process.
Basically, he says its regrettable that there wasn't much cooperation and that we need a global, consultative process where we're not shooting each other up.
Missed opportunities. New Albany Sewer Board was too antagonistic to Georgetown. Can't we all get along? More listening? More cooperation between city and county and let little Georgetown get off the hot plate?
"Our budget is minuscule. WE CAN'T GO TO OUR EDIT rate to subsidize sewer rates."
Editorial: That's the point.
Mr. Gonder: Isn't the per capita income in Georgetown higher than New Albany's? Yes, it is, all concede.
But, says attorney, it's a hardship to the poor people. Something should be done. That would have to be picked up by the other people some way.
Editorial: The obvious conclusion is that NEW ALBANY's people should pick up the slack.
Lawyer calls for "Q and A," while filibustering and making his closing argument.
Still waiting for Qs.
New Albany charges Georgetown, not the households. Georgetown has to pay for everything.
Georgetown says they will pay more, to the extent that they can. At the same time, lawyer is saying Georgetown should be paying less.
Georgetown budget for internal sewer operations is $85,000 a month. Yet, G-town pays $3,000 a month, out of altruism, not contract, for chemicals to treat their effluent. All done "to accommodate New Albany," and oh yeah, to keep our pipes from corroding.
Stan Robison asks why city council is involved, as a legal matter. Buchanan says the council is not being asked to raise a rate, under the statute, but rather to affirm the contractual change of Georgetown from wholesale to retail.
Lawyer Andrews (!): Georgetown doesn't have the money to pay its contractual obligations. Therefore, Georgetown's position is they will sue and allege that the contract is illegal.
Robison says his job is to counsel the council and he does not know why "negotiations" haven't come to the council if this is a council problem.
Editorial: The question arises. Is this a "rate increase" under the statute?
Mr. Coffey says the council sympathizes with Georgetown, but asks Andrews to stick to the legal issue of the rate increase.
Andrews: One county where we all live. We ought to be talking to each other.
Zursch: How can Georgetown afford a plant of their own if they can't afford to pay these fees?
Andrews: I think it's better for Georgetown to work with New Albany (stay on the system), take advantage of the economies of scale of New Albany, and drop the whole idea of an independent sewer system.
Gonder: Is Georgetown out of sewer credits? Andrews: We're almost out. We're committed, long-term, to giving out all our credits once all developments are completed.
Robison: Is it your position that the contract is illegal? Andrews: No, No, No. I apologize for implying that. The rate provisions, by "doubling" them, are unjustifiable.
Robison: Why are we here?
Pat Mac: Why are we doing this when we're in the midst of a lawsuit against our own sewer board?
Robison: It's not really litigation. We're asking for an interpretation of statute.
Buchanan: We're not setting rates (here), we're changing classification of Georgetown, by agreement. That's all.
Price: WHy are your rates so high?
Andrews: We don't pay down the rates with tax money like New Albany. Your ratepayers don't appreciate you enough for keeping those rates low.
INSERT Editorial comments HERE.
When Mr. Price starts talking, you know the meat has been plucked from the bone.
Mr. Andrews: We should build a county site that's most efficient. Spend twice as much money
Mr. D.A. Andrews, attorney at law, is a smooth, obviously intelligent attorney. He also is obviously representing his client aggressively and at the same time trying to set countywide policy.
Little violins come out now as Mr. Andrews talks about how Georgetown must battle through litigation (annexation). He says "maybe" someday it would make financial sense for Georgetown to go off the system, but concedes it doesn't make sense now. Nonetheless, he pleads for city-county cooperation to save the ratepayers of Georgetown.
Ron Carroll, sewer board president, wants to know where is your site?
Andrews says that under federal law we can't even negotiate a purchase agreement until federal money is locked up. G-town is days away from completed appraisal on one site.
Coffey: Mr. Carroll is "very astute businessman." In all fairness, sewer board MUST have benchmarks before conceding on contract.
PatMac: Give us something concrete.
DianeB: Do you want the plant or not?
Andrews: The residents just want lower sewer rates. They can't walk away from investment. They want autonomy. They want to pay their own way. (But they want New Albany to pay for it.)
Carroll: Plant enables growth. Georgetown can't grow without a plant. G-town must make the investment.
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