Residents express outrage at proposed utility rate hike

Residents filled the Centennial Building in Port St. Joe on Tuesday to hear an explanation on why city commissioners proposed to raise water and sewer rates over the next three years.

To assert that not many left the special meeting satisfied would be an understatement.

During a testy 110 minutes residents vented over the city’s proposal to approve water and sewer rates that would nearly double costs for many consumers over three years.

The reason for the increase, city officials said, was that a 2005 interlocal agreement between the county and city that allowed the city to annex the WindMark Beach development left the city with a $16 million bond issue to pay off.

“The interlocal agreement is like an albatross we have to live with,” said Mayor Mel Magidson. “We have a problem. This is isn’t a want-to; this is a have-to. But this is not a problem not of our doing.”

Further, with the Port St. Joe Arizona Chemical plant closing, the city lost $750,000 in water and sewer revenue, and the requirement to make annual bond payments forced the city to review its rates for water and sewer.

A $25,000 study suggested the city raise rates over a three-year period, with a rate structured tiered to reward low volume consumers and conservation.

Meanwhile, once water was pumped out of a new $21 million water plant this year issues with aging pipes and valves were exposed in discolored, smelly water so the city faces the prospect of replacing 20 miles of pipe in the not-too-distant future.

“I don’t understand why our city fathers are not taking better care of our citizens,” said resident Carl White, who owns a home in the neighborhood of North Port St. Joe, where he said the pipes were among the oldest in the city compounding problems with odor and discolored water.

“Something needs to be done and it is not raising the water rates. I’m very disappointed, very disappointed.”

Commissioner Greg Johnson noted that the city had to settle for a variable interest rate on the $16 million bond issue and needed to build revenue and reserves to secure a fixed rate – the city’s annual debt payments are expected to jump by several hundred thousand dollars in the next few years.

In addition, building those reserves would assist the city in securing funding for the replacement of aging pipes, Johnson and city manager Charlie Weston said.

“Your drinking water is the No. 1 priority for the city,” Weston said. “We are committed to fixing that.”

Meanwhile, the city will continue with crafting a unidirectional flushing program to clean aging pipes that, in some cases, date to the Great Depression, an essential element to improving overall water quality.

The system, along with a detailed map of the water distribution system, is scheduled to be finished by February. The city received a grant from the State Revolving Loan fund to underwrite the flushing project.

All of which seemed to mean little to those who turned out for the first of two special meetings on the ordinances to raise utility rates, the second to be held Sept. 21.

Consumers complained that the water coming from their tap was not fit to drink. They noted that the city had consistently exceeded guidelines on a specific disinfectant byproduct, TTMH, making the safety of the water a concern.

While John Pope of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) attempted to alleviate fears about the TTMH levels – and water plant supervisor Glenn Davis noted that the levels of TMH had steadily declined for the past quarter into what is considered the safe range – Pope said much of the problems with discolored water would not be solved until aging pipes replaced.

“I would drink the water, but if the water is this color, nobody should have to drink discolored water, nobody should have to wash clothes in discolored water,” Pope said. “But the problem won’t clear up until the pipes are replaced.

The problems, several speakers noted, are not confined strictly to the city limits and ancient pipes. Several residents of St. Joe Beach, where some main transmission lines are less than a few years old, complained about yellow and smelly water.

And, most importantly, the city should not be passing on the bill for a bad deal with the county to consumers who have already seen their rates increased twice in the past few years.

“I am definitely afraid of my water,” said Port St. Joe resident Mike Highman. “My body is important to me. I am not going to put anything in my body that is brown.

“I don’t think fixing this problem should be passed on to me. That’s not fair. I think it is wrong.”

Some suggestions were offered by residents for saving money.

The city could dissolve its police department and turn law enforcement over to the county, or dissolve the city. The city was also too top-heavy in personnel, with a city clerk and city manager performing the duties that were performed by one person under prior administrations.

It was also suggested that the police department salaries were also too top-heavy and another area where the city could save money and not pass on so much of the pain of utility rates to citizens.

And one speaker suggested the rate study was almost meaningless, that with the right questions the outcome of any such study is almost predetermined. If the city sought a study rationalizing higher rates, that is what commissioners would get.

A suggestion was made to charge those who now take city water outside the city limits – Overstreet for example – be charged by the mile the water has to travel, alleviating some of the burden for long-time residents in the city.

Those residents, many on fixed incomes, were the subject of intense debate.

“I am on a fixed income and I can barely pay my water bill now,” said Port St. Joe resident Ann White. “I don’t know how I’ll pay it in the future. The water is not fit to drink” she added while toting a water tap filter turned brown and rock hard by the water.

Former Mayor Johnny Linton added, “We’ve lost population but everything has gone up. You’ve got people on fixed incomes and they can not pay these bills.

“The water is yellow. I don’t want to drink yellow water.”

One property owner was particularly frustrated by the inability of anybody – most particularly consulting engineers Preble Rish – to anticipate the problem once the new plant, and new surface water source, came online.

She wondered if future work on the water distribution system would go out for bid and how Preble Rish seemed to consistently get the city’s business.

Another correlated the city’s passing the bill on a sour deal with the county on to its residents to “thuggery” and others wondered why the county was not footing a more substantial share of the bill while criticizing the city for counting on an uncertainty – the building of 1,400 home sites at WindMark Beach with the associated tax revenue – in taking on such debt.