Hollister
– Nearly 100 Hollisterites packed the Maze Middle School Gym
Tuesday night for a town hall meeting sponsored by local business
leaders to talk about the city’s $120 million sewer project, the
projected end of the building moratorium and proposed sewer rate
hikes.
Hollister – Nearly 100 Hollisterites packed the Maze Middle School Gym Tuesday night for a town hall meeting sponsored by local business leaders to talk about the city’s $120 million sewer project, the projected end of the building moratorium and proposed sewer rate hikes.
The meeting, sponsored by Community Leaders for Economic Activity and Recovery, sought to answer residents’ questions about the sewer project and help locals understand why sewer rates are expected to increase 165 percent during the next five years.
After a brief presentation by sewer project manager Doug Jones, the meeting was turned over to residents who had questions and concerns about the project. Jones said the $120 million project will be paid for by residents and new construction once the project is completed and the moratorium lifted in 2009. The city will have to float 30-year bonds to pay for the project, while the new sewer project is expected, based on growth rates, to reach capacity in only 15 years, Jones said.
Hollister resident Marvin Jones wasn’t pleased with what he heard.
“So we’re going to take a 30-year mortgage and we’re going to need a new plant in 15 years,” he said. “It seems like some creative accounting.”
Hollister City Councilman Brad Pike said the project was not only vital to growth, but also needed to keep the city’s current population showering in the coming years.
“If we don’t do it now, the city will die,” Pike said.
Many residents were frustrated by the proposed increases.
“To me this looks like a lot more money than Hollister needs to spend or has to spend,” said one concerned resident. “It’s like having a Volkswagen and wanting a Ferrari – and wanting someone else to pay for the Ferrari.”
City officials and business owners said the project was needed and that unfortunately, city residents would have to pay for the unprecedented and unexpected growth of the 1980s and 1990s that had the city struggling to keep wastewater under control.
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.
The sewer project will be paid for with money generated from selling bonds. Since the city will not be able to use impact fees from new construction to cover the bonds, officials have created a plan that uses sewer rate increases and future impact fees to complete the project.
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 less drastic, with the monthly rate climbing to $71.50 by 2009 instead of $124.40. Assumptions aside, 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.
Event organizer Annette Giacomazzi said the event served its purpose by answering the questions of concerned citizens.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
