WATER PROPOSAL FOR THE COUNTY
This is without doubt the dumbest of all options other than to do nothing. Why in the world would any thinking person, other than a government official, seek to correct a problem by borrowing money and basically turning it over to the very entity that have been primarily responsible for the problem to begin with. It’s like going to John Dillinger and saying, Mr. Dillinger I have observed that you have a knowledge of banks, I would like to open a savings account with you and deposit a million dollars.
Look, are the water districts doing a good job, for the most part they are but as separate districts they simply are under sever limitations that could be easily overcome by one consolidated system. It is a totally failed system, not necessarily the individuals involved, that buys water sells it over triple the purchase price and still loses money and can not provide water to every citizen in the county.
One consolidated water district covering the entire county is the only reasonable answer to the problem. The county commissioners know this, the county executive knows this, and most citizens know this. When the representative from the Southern Water District presented his case for improving the water system he was asked straight out, “Is there any solution to the water problem better than consolidation?” His response, after apologizing to some water officials, was an emphatic “No”. He went on to explain that each county that had consolidated their water system not only experienced great saving from reduced duplication of services, but each county experienced unprecedented growth.
The problem isn’t just a matter of meeting the needs of the county today, which the current districts have not been able to do, but for the future. Most everyone understands that the major obstacle to getting people and businesses to move here is the situation with the water supply. That’s why there has been practically no development at the interstate exits. Ask yourself why is it that Lewisburg is extending their water lines to provide service to the Milky Way Development? Many complain about businesses moving to foreign countries but is it any different than having other counties provide basic services to our county? I urge everyone to contact their commissioner and politely ask them to stop supporting a failed system and demand consolidation of the county water districts. If they are opposed to consolidation ask them to please explain their opposition. Allen Barrett
posted by Allen Barrett | 10:34 AM
15 Comments:
Amen to that.
Amen to the fact that WAB sits back and criticizes again. When is he going to offer and help implement a positve solution?
I was at the meeting when Mr. Barrett first proposed consolidation of the water systems and I listened as he very politely presented the entire idea to commissioners, from financing to repayment without a tax increase. I also was there when Mrs Vanzant refused to even stay in the room. Every commissioner he spoke to while I was there was in full agreement about the need to consolidate. What have you done anonymous but sit back and criticize Mr. Barrett.
bert..
You wonder why Mrs. Vanzant left the room when wab was there? Surely, you are kidding. Would you want to be in the same room with someone who has called you everything in the book? I doubt that you would if you had received the same treatment.
To anonymous of the 26 11:20 post.
It would be nice if you could just be truthful every now and again. Your statement that I have called Mrs. Vanzant, "everything in the book" is not only a severe exaggeration it is just a plain old fashioned lie. Now in case you are wondering if I have implied that you are a liar I have not, I hope I have made it extremely clear that based on your willful statement you are a liar until you apologize and renounce that statement. Allen Barrett
wab..
Perhaps saying you called her everything in the book was a stretch. I don't recall your ever having called her a kind and sincere lady. So, having said that, I will concede that to have been a stretch. Would you equally admit that you have called her names?
To Anonymous of the 26 Dec. 4:46 post. I appreciate that you have at least been man enough to admit to your exaggeration. I have made no effort to hide my thoughts about Mrs. Vanzant but I have never referred to her as anything I did not speak with her about first. Each label by which I have referred to her by I have had absolute proof to support me and I have spoken to her about it before hand. Allen Barrett
wab..
Turn your findings over to the legal authorities and then butt out. That IS your civic duty!
My conceding that I had stretched things a bit with regard to names you have called Mrs. Vanzant shows that I am man enough to admit wrong. I have NEVER seen you say anything complimentary of her. Should I expect your apology for that anytime soon?
WE have not really had a conversation about this topic yet, only arguments, so what about the topic at hand?
I think that we have a bunch of incompetent commissioners that only know how to spend money. They have been spending like crazy every since the election. Let's all remember that when re-election time comes around. Giles Countians have been and will continue to be taxed to death until these people are gone. What ever happened to common sense? It sounds really dumb to me to borrow this money and then turn the deal over to the people who should be providing this water in the first place.
If Giles Co borrows $$ to have a fixed asset (water pipes ) built and then gives it away to local pompadours who cant pump water then the sole 'achievement ' of the exercise will have been to increase the county's debt without adding to its assets (we'll OWE more but OWN less ) .
This WILL LOWER Giles' credit rating !! Just like buying a new truck and wrecking it on the first corner without having insurance !! HOW STUPID can you get ? Well, I guess you can become a Giles Co commissioner and keep on trying .
It is time to recognise that these so-called 'public entities' called Water Districts are really PRIVATE little fiefdoms who think they can do or not do whatever they feel like..and have the taxpayers PAY them for the priviledge .
Taxpayers ..call your commissioners and TELL them to STOP this stupidity . Then watch how they vote (all comissioners with friends and relatives on Water district commissions PLEASE stand up NOW !!) .
Prune Juice ..straining to make things happen
If done right, there will be an asset! If the water is consolidated into a single entity if we use a brain instead of someone else's check book.
What is the complexity of running a trencher and gluing two pieces of pipe together? OK, you have to be smart enough to not dip the pipe in cow dung before before glueing it together. OK one of them has to be certified & that means you certify one of them that you taught them the difference between cow dung & glue. Rocks? = That's why they devil made drunks & thieves, balls & chains & road gangs. do you think there is an ecologist, proctologist, MD, psychoanalyst, and tax assessor present to plumb a new house or repair an old one. We have a brain dead society!
Water lines do add to the value of property. If you force a farmer to pay for pipe over a mile of pasture frintage, you will bankrupt them. If you force the person on the other end to pay for it, you will bankrupt them.
Long story short, low interest loans are available, meaning the capital cost is probably 1/2 of what it would cost an individual. If we don't kill financial management, and properly record the lines as assets, with a plan to charge a reasonable tap fee
($1500?). You can lay a LOT of pipe for $1500! There are a lot of property owners who would buy & lay the pipe if the idiot government would let more than one family tap into it. We are dealing with an idiotic bureaucracy! Do we not talk to other counties??
The county must consolidate and take control of the water system. I would challenge anyone to give any reasonable positive for having these split systems. Every commissioner and the County Executive know the benefits of consolidation will far outweigh any negatives that might be experienced. Yes it will cost a lot of money to assume the total debt of each system but that expense can easily be recouped through better management and purchasing. Right now each individual system makes purchases based on their individual needs thus making almost everything more expensive. For example imagine the savings of a consolidated system seeking bids for fifty thousand feet of pipe instead of two thousand.
The county has already been told, in simple language, that in every county that has consolidated their water system the cost went down, service was extended and county wide growth was experienced. Giles County is a beautiful place, the only place I ever chose to live in, but it has a declining population and a tax base that can not sustain itself.
People are paying vastly different prices for water that cost each district exactly the same. Tap fees vary by hundreds of dollars and many in the county are left completely without water.
Our leadership must take a more forward thinking attitude and regardless of the difficulty consolidate the water system so everyone can have a stable source of safe drinking water and pay the same price for it. Allen Barrett
Very good information and excellent idea. Who are the commissioners that are opposing consolidation?
opposition is and has been concentrated in the empire-building of the individual utility districts. the argument that we would have to assume their debt is not valid since we are already responsible for this debt as members of the districts. it only means the debt would be consolidated.
the only concern i have with consolidation, i support consolidation, is determining who or what the board and manager make up will be. it must be done in a way, if possible, that removes as much political influence from the system as possible. if we don't consolidate, we will still be arguing about water 20 years from now with little or no improvement.
Excellent post by 1/1/08, 7:40. You hit the nail right on the head.
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