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Mayor Kirk’s Weekly Update – “So what exactly do I get for paying those high water rates?”
By admin | August 27, 2009
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard over the past week, “We pay some of the highest water and sewer rates in the country. For what?”
A good and legitimate question if ever there was one. The total budget for running the city’s water system is just about $6 million. For that you get payment of $2.5 million in debt service for projects already commissioned or completed. Past projec ts that we are still paying for include the Magnolia water distribution system overhaul that was done a few years ago. These debt payments don’t include any projects that are sure to come as a result of the current water crisis, precipitated in large part by antiquated plants that are at the end of their reliable lifespan.
For those high rates, you also get about $1.3 million in salaries and benefits for the Department of Public Works water division staff. These are the guys responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the water distribution system throughout the city. And as it is with snowplowing, the sheer physical size of Gloucester, at 26 square miles, drives the cost up for maintaining the system.
We also pay about $1.5 million in contracted services. Most of this goes to the outside contractor that is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the water treatments plants themselves. We have three in the city, and the Babson Plant is the source of this particular crisis from which the system is trying to recover.
That leaves about $700,000 to put towards supplies, other operations costs, and capital improvements. For example, we budget $85,000 annually on pipes, tubes and fittings in a system made up of over 100 miles of pipes, tubes and fittings.
That’s what you get for the high water rates you pay. Oh, and you’re supposed to get safe drinking water.
Last year, in my first State of the City address to the community (which is still on line on the homepage of the city websit e), I stated: “A failure of any one of the core infrastructure systems (water or wastewater) will cripple the city and bankrupt the citizens.” I had done a fresh-eye review of all aspects of city operations and assets from financial to infrastructure. That baseline analysis has formed the basis of almost every decision my Administration has made since. We moved on spending the $3.5 million on the water system that is now underway. The West Gloucester plant is undergoing a major and long overdue overhaul. As a result, that plant is offline and until the work is done in September, cannot be the back up we desperately need today.
I realize that as this event drags on, every day people become more aggravated, and costs climb for the businesses impacted. Trust me – no one wants this boil order lifted more than myself! However, I will not politicize this issue, and make hay where no hay should be made. Nor w ill we move any faster than is safely possible. This is a tough time to be Mayor in terms of the economy. And this crisis comes at a miserable time for a Mayor running for re-election. I am being called upon to make the difficult decisions – not the popular decisions, and not the decisions that will send the most votes my way. I will answer the call, face the facts we need to face, and continue to get the job done for the citizens of Gloucester. Good news. Bad news. And maybe someday, no news.
Topics: Columns
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