The Owl wrote:
Zippy, we pay high rates because rather than fixing the problem with our sewers our town council chose to build 2 equalization basins that cost the town somewhere in the range of 4 million dollars.
You see our sewer system was put in quickly, by a slip shod contractor many years ago. Now it has failed. The best way to fix the problem would be to use a process known as insituform. This process lines the inside of the pipes, and stops storm water from entering the sewer system. But rather than using this process to eliminate storm water, the elected brain trust chose to dig 2 gigantic holes in the ground on Morse to "hold" the sewage so that it could slowly be treated at the waste water plant in Lowell.
So was the problem solved?, no. We still have tons of storm water entering the sewer system, thats why when it rains the manhole lids blow off by pine crest and other places. 4 million and the problem still exists. Now the elected mensa society is looking to tack on a storm water fee. Thats right now they want to bill you again for a problem they didn't fix right the first time.
There is some truth to what you are saying but there are some things that you missed.
For many years just after the sewers were put in town board members like Bob Carnahan, Mary Loudermilk, Tom Dowling and the like refused to fix the problems that existed because they would have to raise the sewer rates and they wanted to be re-elected. So to save a dime then it's costing us a dollar to fix now. The problems did not fix themselfs they got worse and more of them.
The storm water could have been fixed but Mary Loudermilk who was now out of office was able to stop a small fee that would have given town money to fix some drainage problems , but being the slum lord that she is she fought the small fee, now we pay higher sewer rates.
As for the sewer rates there are some other towns in Indiana that are paying close to $100 a month for sewer and water, and the bulk of the bill is for the sewer service not the water.