Town Meeting last Wednesday--this is a long one

Some citizens hosted a town meeting at the community center last Wednesday regarding their concerns regarding a proposed sewer trunk line. I wanted to address some of the statements that were in the flyer that went out to the homes in Roland. I also want to address some of the comments that were brought up during the meeting. First the flyer.

First the headline: TAXES AND SEWER BILLS TO INCREASE IN ROLAND

If the word "MAY" was in there, I'd have no problem with that. The headline makes it sound like a done deal. It is not. If the city council carries through with its plan, yes they will. But it is far from a done deal. So that is a minor quibble, but a quibble nonetheless.

Next line: City may spend up to $4,000,000 of OUR MONEY

This is simply fear mongering. The city council has never mentioned, considered, or put forth any plan to spend that amount of money on the sewer system. The city does have an engineering estimate for two sewer upgrade possibilities that could cost that much should the DNR force an upgrade on us. In fact, the city council is trying to avoid spending that, so has taken on other efforts to keep the DNR happy with our sewer system. Implying that the city council is planning such a thing is simply incorrect.

Next line: The City of Roland has changed direction since the last "Town Information Meeting" that was held in February....

That again, is incorrect. There was no decision made at the town meeting, because it was simply that, a forum to share information. At the next regular council meeting, on March 7, the council decided to hold a work session to discuss the various options. At the special work session meeting on March 19, the council members decided to go ahead with the trunk line sewer project. Then in the regular council meeting on Wednesday, March 21, that path was reiterated. HERE is a link to the minutes. To say that the council has changed direction is completely incorrect. The council has stuck with that plan since the first work session after the February town meeting. In that same meeting, if you read the minutes, you will see the city council also authorized slip lining the worst sewer lines in town, as general funds were available. As noted in the community meeting, slip lining the entire system would cost $2,000,000.

As we go down further in the flier....General consensus delivered to the City at these meetings.....

This is simply subjective opinion offered by the creator of the flier. There were many viewpoints offered at the meeting, including viewpoints that were different than the direction that the city council ultimately chose. But there was no consensus reached, as to reach consensus, the decision makers would have to buy off on a plan. The council made no decision at that meeting.

Next part....Several taxpayers have been attending Council Meetings trying to understand what this means....

Yes that is correct, and though I am generally not in agreement with those folks, it is nice to have engaged citizens. The "change of direction" is again mentioned in this paragraph, and see above for my dispute with that claim.

Down a bit....We believe you should be informed and concerned when there are large financial projects in the works that will require YOUR MONEY to complete and may reach $4,000,000.

I have no problem with that either. The thing is, the city council is trying to avoid spending $4,000,000. We can sit here and do nothing, and the DNR can come in and say, "Bang, you are doing this." Or we can make a good faith effort to get to where the DNR wants us, at a much slower pace. And the city council has to consider the entire town of Roland. Flooded basements of storm water and sewage are not good for people on an individual basis, or the town as a whole. It can be a drain on the property values of the entire community. The city council has taken a look at many options and directions to go for the good of Roland. I think the decisions that have been made so far are good for the long term health of entire sewer system of Roland.

Last paragraph...This meeting is for informational purposes so you are aware of what is happening....it is NOT to ridicule the City and we will conduct this meeting in a civil adult-like manner.

I think the folks that put this on did a pretty good job with that. I think the meeting was indeed civil, and didn't beat on the council members in a personal way. I do disagree with some of the conclusions they put forth. I would hope any observer of the meeting would step back and consider what the motivation for hosting the meeting was. These folks, while possibly having concern for the taxpayers of Roland, also have their own personal self-interest in this project based on where the proposed trunk line will run. The city council has to look at what is best for the city as a whole. And unfortunately, that includes making decisions that some people in the community are not going to be happy with. And so that led to this meeting, which these folks were using their right to organize citizens to encourage the council to go in a different direction.

On to some of the comments made by the organizers during the meeting that I disagree with. One is in regarding to the current trunk line, and it being new. It is 30-40 years old. It is indeed new compared to much of the town. But it has issues. We have videoed the line. It has "waves" in it, where it does not all flow downhill. This pipe may be fine if it was as it was installed. But because it is not flat, it reduces the capacity of the pipe. Go to City Hall and watch it yourself. We can all wish it were in good shape, but it is not.

Second is in regards to the pump at the sewer plant being unable to keep up. During our last flood event, it was cycling on and off, which means it was able to keep up. The folks running the meeting say it was running continuously. Our sewer superintendent and a council member that lives near the plant say it was cycling. The council as a whole has to make a choice as to which opinion is correct. If the pump can keep up right now, that is approximately $200,000 we don't have to spend now.

One statement in particular said by a leader of the meeting really frosts my behind. It was something to the effect of, "and Roland city taxes are already one of the highest around here." That is simply not true, and an unwarranted shot at the city council, city staff, and our boards that budget for our various city features. All of them are very conscientious about spending our tax dollars. Making public statements like that start to get a buzz out there in the "world" and put doubts in people's minds about Roland being a good place to live. Here is the truth:

Of the 15 communities in Story County, Roland has the 5th lowest city tax rate.

If you don't believe, HERE is the link from Story County with the rates for all cities, school districts, and all the other folks that levy property tax.

If you don't want to go to the link, here are the levy rates (dollars levied per $1000 of assessed valuation.) Sheldahl $2.98, Cambridge 8.00, Kelley 8.10, Story City 8.28, Roland 10.07, Maxwell 10.16, Zearing 10.62, Ames 10.72, Gilbert 10.94, Collins 11.33, Huxley 11.83, McCallsburg 12.24, Colo 12.81, Slater 14.35, Nevada 15.42.

One last note regarding a question that someone in the audience may have asked, and was presented one way by the presenters, albeit with some uncertainty of what would happen. So this is no particular beef I have with anyone, just passing along the info. And that was regarding whether the city council could push through this expenditure without a city wide public vote. If the city council were to carry through with the plan for a new trunk line and pump (we would need a new pump in this case, because we would have a larger line feeding into it), it would cost about $900,000. If the city council chose to fund it completely via sewer rates, they would not have to hold an election to borrow that amount of money. If the project was funded with property tax, any amount over $400,000 coming from property tax would have to go to a public vote, and pass with a 60% super majority.

I think when the meeting ended, because this meeting was not set up in a debate format, that the seeds of doubt were placed on the rationality of the city council. The purpose of this blog post is to offer a counter to some of what was presented. City Council meetings give citizens an opportunity to challenge decisions and ideas.

I would like to add the council moved forward in an unanimous way on this particular project. I am not going to sit here and say the council acted completely on facts. Much of it is opinion, based on weighing various facts and opinion, to come up with a best course of action. Folks can disagree on this course, and that is fine. But I would like to pass along some of the if/buts the council had to consider.

If we do nothing, the DNR may force a $4,000,000 sewer upgrade upon us. We need to get inflow and infiltration out of our sanitary sewer system to cut down what we must treat. We want to keep sewage out of people's basements. There were backups in several geographic sections of Roland. Much of our sewer system is over 100 years old. If we go down the backyard of the folks on Samson with a new trunk line, we will have to get an easement and disrupt their lives/yards for some amount of time. If we run the new trunk line down the middle of the street, it will cost an extra $600,000. Is the disruption of the back yard of 12 people worth flood and backup prevention for 50 or 100? We could institute a sump pump inspection plan, to make sure people weren't running their sump water into the sanitary sewer. We could force around 100 people in Roland to have costly changes to the drainage systems around their houses to potentially keep water out of the sanitary sewer system--maybe around an average of $2-3000 per homeowner. We could slip line the entire town at a cost of $2,000,000. However sliplining the entire town doesn't cure I/I water that gets in from the house to the sewer main. We want to get this done soon, to prevent more backups. Will the sliplining fix the problem of I/I? Will a new trunk line prevent sewer backups? Will sump pump connection changes solve the problem?

Those are just some of the questions the council had to ponder. Some of those things we have gone forth with. And after pondering all that stuff and more, the course we are on is what the council came up with. Again, I don't presume to speak for the whole council, but I think the decision really came down to two things. How can we quickly keep sewage from backing up in people's basements, and how can we avoid dropping $4,000,000 on a new sewer plant.

So there ya go, long winded yes. If you have questions, feel free to contact me, or one of the city council. Or you are certainly invited to the next city council meeting on November 7. Or comment right here. I get hits, so I know folks are reading my blog, but rarely do people comment. I encourage that here.