Lee Becker reported on proposed rate increases for Oconee County water and sewer customers……… Another friend sent me an article written by Philip Cafaro, an associate professor of philosophy at Colorado State University- an environmental activist who opposed Bear Creek Reservoir while attending UGA. ….. These two articles are apropos to our current revenue and population shortcomings….

AVOC

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April 23, 2010

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Water and Growth projections and decisions have consequences for Oconee County

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By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc

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Water issues came into my home today via the Internet.   Lee Becker reported on proposed rate increases for Oconee County water and sewer customers.   I have shared that article and its comments with interested Oconee County Citizens.    Oconee is strained now because of a rush to grow fast.   The Hard Labor Creek Project is a burden that our county will pay for mightily over many years.  Lee Becker’s research brings valuable information to citizens who are not informed very well in the local media.

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We should not fault the Utility Department about pending increases in Water and Sewer in Oconee County.  It is the fault of county management that committed us to the ill-advised Hard Labor Creek Project and ran lines haphazardly, chasing development , and incurring too much debt for our small county.    More and more problems will come from the 'fast growth policies" and misjudgments of the Davis Administrations- largely ignored by local media.  

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Another friend sent me an article written by Philip Cafaro, an associate professor of philosophy at Colorado State University.   He is an environmental activist who opposed Bear Creek Reservoir while attending UGA.   Excerpts and the link to his article appear below.   While I do agree with all of his assertions, he does talk about “wide open growth”.    Bear Creek was built on moderate growth projections but later officials “grew us fast” and we outgrew our infrastructure.

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Oconee County Citizens need to reflect on these issues as we choose our leaders.   Unfortunately, the two up for election this year did not participate in the ill-advised Hard Labor Creek Project but are left to struggle with the consequences.Voters need to remember these challenges when two other Commissioners are up for election in 2012.

AVOC COMMENT:   An Opposing View on Water Supply -We have a lot of opinions in this world….

…some of the assertions in this article are not correct…Never knew about 3 or 4 miles of Bear Creek being destroyed…  

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Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc – 4.23.10

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Why I am an Environmentalist — For Immigration Reduction –NumbersUSA- April 22, 2010

http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/cafarop/april-21-2010/why-i-am-environmentalist-immigration-reduction.html

…. I had moved to Athens, Georgia, in 1986, from Chicago. I came to study American history at the University of Georgia, but the main effect of moving to the South was to open my eyes to nature. Here, in a very different environment from the one I had grown up in, I realized the importance—and beauty—of nature.

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The issue that really catalyzed my environmental activism, though, was the proposal to dam the Oconee, which flows through Athens. Its stated purpose: to provide “flood control” and drinking water to local residents. But its real purpose was to support continued growth, both economic and demographic…

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In the end, we fought the dam builders to a kind of a draw. Instead of a huge dam inundating a dozen miles of the Oconee River, the local communities pitched in and built—at great public expense—a smaller reservoir on a tributary, destroying 3 or 4 miles of Bear Creek………

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What with one thing and another, Bear Creek Reservoir took nearly a dozen years to build. It only came “on line” seven years ago—and almost immediately, it was being cited as inadequate to meet regional drinking water needs (see article in the Athens Banner-Herald).

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The Bear Creek Reservoir was built to accommodate new water demands for the next fifty years, at the “middle” or “moderate” growth projections from the Census Bureau. But it turned out that the counties around Athens were among the fastest growing in the state. They actually grew faster than even the “high” Census Bureau projections.

Now there is talk of building a system of huge regional reservoirs in north Georgia, to handle all this growth—including that river-killer on the main stem of the Oconee River. Environmentalists, of course, oppose these plans. A new generation of activists will write earnest letters to the editor. They will lobby their public officials on behalf of the river they love. And they will lose. ……………..

Becker Oconee Water and Sewer Rate Increases Proposed.4.21.10

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BOC Questions Rate 4-21-10

http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2010/04/oconee-county-utility-department.html
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The Oconee County Utility Department has proposed increases in water and sewage fees beginning on July 1 that–if approved by the Board of Commissioners–would increase the base fee for monthly residential water use from $ 16.50 to $ 19 and the base monthly residential sewer fee from either $ 12.48 or $ 15.48 to $ 18.
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The increases are necessary, according to Utility Department Director Chris Thomas, to cover the increased costs for operation of the department, including the cost of retirement of debt for water and sewage capacity expansion.

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When the Hard Labor Creek reservoir was proposed, proponents said debt would be covered by the sale of water to new customers rather than by existing customers....

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Comments:

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Anonymous said...

The water and sewer customers will pay dearly for the mismanagement of the utility department by the Davis administration in the past 8 years. The Walton County project will be financial albatross for the county for many years. Eventually it will soak up significant portions of the sales tax revenue. Already the County is using SPLOST funds for things such as water line extensions that would have been paid with revenue from water and sewer sales if not for the need to service the $ 19.5M in debt for the Walton project. Only 2 current commissioners voted for the project, Davis and Luke.

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11:13 PM

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From: Lee Becker [mailto:lbbecker@mindspring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 10:47 PM
To: lbbecker@mindspring.com
Subject: Water and Sewer Rate Increases Proposed

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Dear Friends,

The Oconee County Utility Department has proposed increases in water and sewage fees beginning on July 1 that–if approved by the Board of Commissioners–would increase the base fee for monthly residential water use from $ 16.50 to $ 19 and the base monthly residential sewer fee from either $ 12.48 or $ 15.48 to $ 18.

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For details, go to:

http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2010/04/oconee-county-utility-department.html

Lee