Hollister
– The City Council got an earful from angry residents at a
public hearing Tuesday on Hollister’s plans to raise monthly sewer
rates dramatically over the next four years to help pay for the
construction of a $120 million wastewater treatment facility.
Hollister – The City Council got an earful from angry residents at a public hearing Tuesday on Hollister’s plans to raise monthly sewer rates dramatically over the next four years to help pay for the construction of a $120 million wastewater treatment facility.
Dozens of local residents let their concerns and frustrations be heard at the meeting. Most opposed the city’s plans to raise sewer rates.
“This will affect people with a fixed income. Senior citizens won’t be able to keep up; young adults won’t be able to afford to buy homes; no one will move here because of the high rates,” Hollister resident Mary Encinas said. “I urge you to reconsider.”
Paul Ramirez, another Hollister resident concerned about the high rates, worked to collect more than 1,300 signatures in opposition to proposed rates, but fell far short of the 4,500 signatures needed to block the City Council from adopting the rate hike. Ramirez said he could collected the needed signatures, but didn’t have enough time. He urged the City Council to postpone further discussions on the sewer rates.
“We could have easily pulled off the needed signatures,” he said. “We just ran out of time.”
Ramirez also urged the City Council to form a citizen’s watchdog group to oversee the sewer project.
Another local homeowner, Ann Carpenter, told the City Council that the proposed rates would force her out of the home she has lived in for 45 years.
“These rates will be double my property taxes,” she said. “I’m going to have to move out of my home.”
Carpenter, who served on the City Council in the early 1980s, also said it was unfair to put the burden of the $120 million sewer project on the backs of residents.
“Cities don’t build infrastructure,” she said. “Developers build infrastructure.”
Others suggested the city seek federal and state grants to fund the project.
“We need to get federal funds,” Anita Pedrazzi-Minkel said. “The money is out there; we need to find it.”
The standing-room-only crowd frequently applauded the speakers and let out a collective groan when officials outlined the planned increases.
The new sewer plant is slated for completion before 2009 and will bring an end to the moratorium on new sewer connections imposed by the state in 2002 after 15 million gallons of treated wastewater spilled into the San Benito River. The moratorium has stifled economic development throughout the city.
The City Council recently detailed its plan to pay for the sewer by raising sewer rates 165 percent by 2009. Sewer rates would fund 54 percent of the project while new development and construction would pick up 46 percent of the costs. The city will have to float $120 million in bonds to pay for the project, which will end up costing more than $330 million after interest on the 30-year bonds is repaid. The sewer plant is expected to reach capacity in 15 years, at which point it would need to be expanded, according to Hollister City Manager Clint Quilter.
The state placed a moratorium on new sewage connections in Hollister after 15 million gallons of treated wastewater spilled into the San Benito River in 2002. The moratorium, which has brought new construction and development to a virtual standstill, has hurt the city’s economy.
Under the new rate schedule a single family residential water bill will increase 165 percent in the next five years, jumping from $31.30 a month to $124.40 a month by 2009. The increasing rates will be introduced incrementally, starting with a 48 percent hike this year. However, city officials hope the plan doesn’t have to implement the full rate increase, anticipating that impact fees from new development once the moratorium is lifted will cover nearly half of the plant’s construction costs. If that assumption holds up, the sewer rate increase would be significantly smaller, with the monthly rate climbing to $71.50 by 2009 instead of $124.40. In any case, the city council will have to approve the new sewage rate scheme to demonstrate that it can generate enough revenue to satisfy the bonding company.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
