At last nights meeting, after a very informative and well done PowerPoint presentation by Councilman Chuck Trader and a seemingly interminable bout of poliitcal grandstanding by Councilman Bird, all but Bird voted in favor of a 35% increase in water/sewer rates. Additionally, apartment complexes will now be charged $10.00 per month per apartment in addition to the actual usage charged to the complex as a whole.
This was necessitated by a shortfall in the revenues from the water/sewer enterprise fund with regards to servicing the $43,000,000 bond issue to build the new sewage treatment plant completed recently. To provide the necessary additional funds by no other means than a rate increase would have required a 65% increase. However, by using a combination of $1.2 million of SPLOST funds and a half-million from the general fund balance, the Water / Sewer Committee - with the lion's share of the work being done by Chuck Trader - was able to hold it down to 35%.
Council has promised to revisit the rates fairly often to see if future increases in housing starts will allow for ongoing incremental reductions in the rate.
The alcohol ordinance was postponed.
The newly revised tree ordinance was passed as part of the consent agenda.
Council turned down a request from Camden House for a $6,000 donation - at least until such time as they come back at a later meeting with a budget for Camden House.
A Mr. Joe Rowell addressed council about some serious problems in his neighborhood. He lives down at the end of the street that runs alongside the Sonic restaurant. As I understood it, he has an ongoing problem with drunks trespassing across the posted lot at the end of that street on beer runs to Harveys Supermarket. Moreover, he says that local teens have taken to not only playing their music way too loud as they "cruise" through the Sonic parking lot, but have lately taken to meeting up there to have drag races on Spur 40, starting in front of Sonics. He complains of not only little if any police presence but actually being harassed on one occaission by a repsonding SMPD officer. Council and the city manager were obviously surprised and shocked by the info Mr. Rowell gave them.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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3 comments:
If the police would stop harassing the patrons of LUCKY DAWGS, maybe they would have the manpower to address Mr. Rowell's valid concerns.
So in other words St. Marys residents are going to pay for all the debt caused by building the Cumberland Harbor Fire Station, putting a ridiculous cover on the stage at Gilman Park, and other mismanagement of the city's revenues. That does it, I'm outta here. First Ga Power, then Comcast, and now the city. I'm tired of getting in the ass from this place.
Not that you are likely to have any interest in knowing the facts, but no, not one of the things you mentioned are remotely involved in the need to raise water and sewer rates. Water/sewer is a self financing enterprise fund, totally independent of any tax revenues of any kind.
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