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.
----
NA Sewer board has no idea what the G-town sewer capital sinking fund applies to user rates. $6 million? $18 million?
"We are not the reason their rate is rising toward $100."
That was Ed Wilkinson, who recently joined the board for the sewers.
Sulfides and ammonia are very high (I'll resist the diet jokes).
For whatever reason, Georgetown's effluent contains VERY high toxics that must be removed. Why? I dunno.
Mr. Gahan asks: This increase is about $15 per household? Yes, says Mr. Wilkinson.
Ah-hah. Flat system, slow flow, the longer it's in the system, the more decay, the more toxic chemistry. That explains it. Not the ingestion of unusual substances, but the "long pipe" decomposition.
I'm trying not to inject my opinions here, but just report undisputed facts.
In NA, there are multiple pumping stations. The Georgetown system, primarily, is gravity-fed. The slowness adds to the decomposition and corrosion. Nonetheless, it all flows downhill.
NOW
The county commission defers to the Georgetown town council member, Mr. Stewart.
G-town rates are "set" by Umbaugh, as an independent accounting firm.
Base rate is $27.65
plus $9 unit rate, based on 5,000 gallons of effluent per month.
OK, I'm already lost. Georgetown, we're told, has an old, rundown system. Operating their system is costly. $89,000 plus per month to operate. Added to that is the New Albany charge for actually treating the system.
So, 90,000 dollars divided by 1,200 people = $10 a month, plus, per ratepayer/householder.
$1.5 retirement bond on old sewer system...
plus bond anticipation notes on future system
Arrgh!
I'm sorry, my mind is much more lineal than I thought. Maybe the council can understand this...I can't. It's too disjointed and all over the map for me to follow.
Mr. Stewart says fair rate is significantly cheaper than even what we pay in N.A. He says it should be $1.09 per unit.
LAWSUIT THREAT. That's the first one tonight. Stewart threatens lawsuit that will hold off any payment for years.
190,000 gallons a day sent from Georgetown. Of 8 million gallons per day for the whole system.
Stewart: We treat our sewage not because we're required to by contract, but because we're nice guys. New Albany asked us to do it, and we did it. We don't have to do so, no matter how corrosive it is.
I'm honestly lost. I'm trying to "live-e-mail" this thing, but I'm hearing gobbledygook.
"Horrible" penalties, horrible rates. Assertion by Stewart that these rates are illegal. If we signed it (old town council), it was illegal. YOU CAN'T ENFORCE IT.
This parrots the legal position of the town's lawyer, who clearly intends to challenge it as "illegal" to treat Georgetown as a retail account.
Sorry...the last ten minutes have been a blur. I checked my e-mail, read the NA Confidential blog comments.
Now, Mr. Price is up for his first at-bat.
"It's steel, politics." Six days before the election, Georgetown agreed to this contract.
Per Stewart: Original contract: $1.9 million a year for 500,000 gallons a day flow.
Georgetown then realized they could do it themselves for less money and asked out of the 25-year contract.
To do so, they were required to pay $800,000 to New Albany, which they did, to unwind a 25-year commitment. In addition, penalties and rate increases would be applied if Georgetown didn't get "off" the system.
Georgetown now says the county should pay to move the plant to the west of town instead of building it at G-town's "Edwardsville" site.
The Edwardsville site is dead, died, and gone. The annexation won't happen. This is me, Randy, saying this. That dog won't hunt.
The west o' town site is the only site. As we listen, there is no plant designed or being built.
Stewart: Give us more time!
Mr. Stewart, as before, is begging, threatening, and poor-mouthing. Claims if anyone sues Georgetown, they have a four-year get-out-of-free card in the contract.
Diane B: DO you actually have a site?
Stewart: No. We have three sites we've talked about that we might offer on, as of May, 2009.
OMG moment!
Stewart: Georgetown doesn't have $350,000 to buy a piece of land. Unless the county pays for it, we can't buy land to build a sewer plant.
Mr. Z: What assurances can you give New Albany?
Stewart: Everything legally possible?
Mr. Z is taking the G-town attorney to the woodshed right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment