Some questions....Answered.

A friend of mine who is studying the issues, asked me some questions.  One of them I knew the answer to, the other one I had to go find out.  Both answers are below FYI. 

THE QUESTIONS POSED TO ME:
Andrea,
I have heard two rumors about the MBR that i hoped you could answer:
1-Will our sewer rates go up another $20.00 for a total of $40.00 per household for sewer?

2- Will the MBR only service half of Santaquin while the remaining sewage will still go into the old sewer lagoons?

Any help you can give me would be appriciated.
Thanks

MY ANSWERS AS I UNDERSTAND IT:

It is my understanding that the sewer rates will remain as they are. In the negotiations for the funding, the USDA required that Santaquin put forth some of the money, The extra money that we've already been paying for 2 years is that money. That rate, by law, cannot be raised further. The exception to that is COLA raises (Cost of living adjustments).

For the second question, my understanding is that when the MBR is finished, the land that the lagoons sit on will be reclaimed and sold. I'll verify these two questions/answers and get back to you later today.
If you haven't already, please read at least the top post on this blog http://santaquintruth.blogspot.com/ The text in red is the answer to some of the myths that are going around. I'll check on the other one you asked about.

BELOW IS THE VERIFICATION TO MY RESPONSE TO THE QUESTIONS:

This comes from Rich Payne who knows his stuff. I’ve been so impressed by him and the truth that is coming from that side of the issues.


Hi Andrea,

You are correct that the sewer rates will not go up except for an annual COL adjustment based on the national CPI as published by the US government. The $20 increase a year ago is to cover the debt service and operations and maintenance (O&M) for the new MBR treatment plant.

For the second question, if the MBR is built to the north (most likely), the old lagoons will stay in service for one to two years and service about 40% of Santaquin. This is just temporary as we bank some money and do the engineering/construction necessary to pipe everything down to the MBR plant. The easiest way to understand this is that all sewage that currently flows into the pump stations on 420 West and the new pump station on Center Street (at the RR tracks) will be serviced by the MBR. Those homes that gravity feed into the lagoons will be transitioned when the new pipeline to the MBR is completed.

One more issue that we need to address came from the opposition's meetings up at CS Lewis. Last night, Fil Askerlund was asked why there was no opposition statement in the voter information pamphlet sent around to Santaquin residents. He made it sound like the city was a fault for the omission when in fact it was their fault for missing the submission deadline. They even went to the Lt. Governor's office to see about a waiver, but they were denied. This was all discussed in a recent city council meeting that I attended. It was explained in exact detail to Fil Askerlund, by Santaquin's legal council, the state regulations on submission of for/against arguments in the voter info pamphlet. Keith Broadhead and Marilyn Clayson were also in attendance. Plain and simple, they missed the deadline. The city had no fault in this as the opposition would have everyone believe.

Regards,
Rich Payne