Utility Authority sets date for rate public hearing

Local News

August 24, 2010

By Jeremy Pittari, Item Staff Writer The Picayune Item Picayune Item Tue Aug 24, 2010, 10:17 AM CDT

PICAYUNE — Board members of the Pearl River County Utility Authority have set a date for the public to learn about proposed sewer rate increases.

Rates that will be proposed include increasing the rate for sewer services in Poplarville to $49.75 and $29.75 in Picayune. The board also discussed reducing the amount of minimum water usage for the flat rate from 4,000 gallons down to 3,000 gallons, reduce that rate by about $4. The water rate change only applies to areas where the Utility Authority has water systems.

None of those rates have been finalized, and the public is encouraged to attend a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, to earn about the changes and make comments. The location for the hearing has not been determined and will be announced at a later date.

The reason for the rate increase is partially because both cities in Pearl River County refused to give the Utility Authority water systems along with the sewer systems. Utility Authority board member Ernie Lovell said typically water system fees supplement sewer system short falls. However, since both cities opted to give the Utility Authority only their sewer systems, the board has no way to supplement shortfalls other than raising rates, Operations Manager Cliff Diamond said

“We’re not doing anything wrong, we’re just trying to make a budget,” Diamond said.

Part of the reason Poplarville’s rates are proposed to be higher than Picayune’s is because a State Revolving Fund loan taken out by Poplarville prior to giving the sewer system to the Utility Authority. The SRF loan was used by the board of alderman to do sewer repairs years ago. Utility Authority board president Steve Lawler said if not for the SRF loan, there would be no consideration of a rate increase in Poplarville.

Diamond said he approached the Poplarville Board of Alderman at a recent meeting with an alternative to raising rates so much. That alternative entailed the city paying half of the loan payments. In exchange the Utility Authority would increase the rate uniformly across the county to $32.50. Diamond said the board of alderman did not respond.

Utility Authority board member Tommy Breland was the only board member to vote for the uniform rate. Lovell also considered voting for the uniform rate. Lovell is with the Development and Alumni Association for the Pearl River Community College in Poplarville If the uniform rate had been adopted, then Picayune customers essentially would be supplementing Poplarville’s SRF loan, and that caused Picayune residents to be concerned, Lawler said.

During the discussion Lawler gave the board a pep talk, telling members that if at any point they felt the decisions they would have to make as board members would negatively impact their professional or private lives, they should reconsider serving on the board.

“At the end of the day, I want you to turn around and say you did the right thing,” Lawler said. “We got some tough decisions to make to make sure this thing succeeds.”

The Utility Authority board is mandated by law to maintain a budget that will pay off SRF loan, Utility Authority Board attorney Jeff Holliman said.

In Picayune, the sewer rate increase will help to pay for repairs to the sewer system. Lawler said about 25 necessary repairs have been identified in Picayune, at a projected cost of $70,000 to $80,000.

On another matter, the board approved a motion to adopt a policy to respond to public records requests. Holliman said a law that went into effect on July 1, states any public records requests must be responded to within seven days. While some changes were made to the Utility Authority’s version of the public records law, Holliman said their version largely follows the Ethics Commission model. The board voted to approve the model and appoint Diamond as the person to respond to public records requests. Diamond can delegate the task to a member of his staff.

The storage building for the Picayune Waste Water Treatment plant has been approve by the Department of Environmental Quality, said engineer Vernon Moore. The board approved a change order to build the storage building, which will be used to store the Utility Authority’s generators and other equipment.

The next meeting of the board will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 16, at Poplarville’s city hall.

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