"PUT ANOTHER NICKEL IN......" teresa brewer

Money,Money, Money....

Well.... got to hear first-hand several proposals on how Painesville will improve the infrastructure of its water department. We have problems. We have a rusty water tower, we have an intake problem out on the lake, we have numerous lines that can't handle 250 gallons of water pressure a minute. (Not a good thing if a fire should break out...if the fire hydrant in front of your house has a red band near the top of it...you could be in trouble). Oh...lets not even mention the rusty water line on Elm Street that everyone wants fixed.

Council president Hada estimated that the 4% increase per year (in effect since 2007) would generate 20 million dollars per year...but really it has only generated 18 million dollars annually because the residents of Painesville haven't used the amount of water expected...I guess we're just too conservative. At the same time, since 2007, the city reported that we have lowered the operating expenses by $950,000 on operations at the water plant.

One solution brought up was to get a bond and fix Elm Street (3000 feet of bad pipe) exactly the same way they replaced the line between Storr Street to the freeway bridge. Proposal #2 was to assess residents on Elm Street for their share of the cost to replace the line. That was a no-go. The proposal that seems to work the best for the administration and council members was to assess everyone a flat ten dollars a month on their water bill. So, Tony Torre, a senior widower living on Sanford Street with very low water usage would see his water bill increase by $120.00 a year. At the same time, Jose Hernandez Zorro living in a home on South St Clair with 18 of his closest relatives, using goodness knows how much water a month, will also pay a flat 10 dollars a month. Dedicated just to infrastructure improvement, same as Mr. Torre. Just doesn't sound fair to me. No one even mentioned charging more for usage. It was explained that this assessment could provide the city with the ability to float a 15 million dollar bond to be used for capital improvements on the water lines city-wide. No mention was made of just a straight increase in water rates. I believe this assessment proposal will go nowhere.

In the meantime, Mrs. Arcaro and other Elm Street residents will continue to have their lines flushed until this problem is financially resolved. The city states we operate such that our investment should be in areas where it benefits the most customers. So I guess if you have rusty water you'll have to live with it. For the record, since 2007 there have been 17 water main breaks on Elm Street alone that has cost the city $37,400.

One of my questions: Should Painesville even be in the water business? It appears we cannot sustain this operation. Council should demand that Painesville rates should be compared to Lake County water rates along with AquaOhio water rates (with the stipulation that the water be rust-free). We have to provide this service at a reasonable cost to our residents. They should have to prove that their rates are in the same ballpark as these other two local suppliers. Is Painesville even large enough to support its own water department? (finding out tonight our contract to supply water to Concord Twp. is up in five years?)

And the one question that no one asked the administration was: How much has Painesville spent on water improvements to the annexed properties? Did that come out of the capital improvements fund? Council will receive recommendations from the administration on this issue and will have three readings to let the residents be aware of what the final proposal will be.