QAC Sewer Increase Hearing

QAC Sewer Increase Hearing Talking Points for the Sewer Rate Increase
Below are some ideas and talking points to address the County Commissioners prior to the Nov. 12th Monday evening public hearing at Kent Island High school in Stevensville at 7 pm, or if you decide to make public comment at the hearing.

The hearing has been set for the public to address the Queen Anne's County commissioners on why the users are facing a possible sewer rate increase.

1.Where's the $10 million dollars going to come from to pay for the new Kent Narrows, Stevensville, Grasonville wastewater treatment plant (KNSG)? No one knows for sure?


2. How did we arrive at this dilemma? Originally, back in the fall of 2002, the new KNSG sewer plant was going to cost approximately $28 million dollars. It was to be secured by a $10 million dollar grant from the state and approximately $10 million from K. Hovnanian and the balance to be bonded and paid for by new customers. (See History below)


3. What will happen if Four Seasons doesn't go through? If Four Seasons (K. Hovnanian) does not go through, the customers of the sanitary district will have to foot a $10 million dollar bill.


4. How will this affect the homeowners who are hooked up to public sewer in the Stevensville, Chester and Grasonville areas? Homeowners in Stevensville, Chester and Grasonville could be faced with an increase of approximately 28% on their quarterly county user fee bills for years to come. The scenario could play out like this: To pay for the wastewater sewer plant, the commissioners will have to secure a bond and the citizens will have to bear the debt service on the bond. Now, if there isn't enough money generated on Kent Island, Grasonville, and Chester, the worst case scenario would mean the money would come from the general fund and every citizen in QAC will be paying for this service. THIS IS NOT FAIR! Why should you have to pay for a service that you are not using!


5. Why are the commissioners asking homeowners (users) to pay for the new sewer plant construction costs? Typically, an enterprise styled account is paid for by the users (customers) of the sanitary district. But, NEVER in the history of this County have user fees gone to pay for capital costs in regards to the sanitary district.


6.Why did we need a new wastewater treatment plant? The Kent Narrow, Stevensville, Grasonville (KNSG) wastewater treatment plant was desperately needed since the nitrogen had never been treated since the former plant was built in 1981. The new plant will reduce the nitrogen that has been flowing into the Chesapeake Bay, plus ensure viable economic development for future sewer allocations.


7.The new wastewater treatment plant was opened several months ago, it was upgraded from 2 million gallons per day to 3 million gallons per day, because we needed to reduce the nitrogen and we were running out of sewer allocations to offer to residential homes and commercial projects. Keep in mind, the County would run out of sewer allocations if we did not upgrade.


History
How did we get here? Today, the KNSG sewer plant costs the county $32 million.-- FOUR MILLION DOLLARS more than the original bid after eliminating $6 million dollars worth of efficiency upgrades.
Why? The last set of commissioners overlooked and disregarded the original bid/plan in 2002 and appealed the discharge permit to halt the progress. In the meantime, pollution continued to flow into the Bay for 2 years while the last set of commissioners sought out other ways to build the wastewater treatment plant. Including two additional engineering studies costing the taxpayers.


There are two costs associated with the wastewater treatment plant: 1. The Capital improvements--- the construction costs to build the plant. 2. The operational-labor costs of hiring men and women to maintain the plant. Quarterly fees have only been used to pay for operational costs NOT capital costs.

What are the solutions?