Before we go off the deep end and spend $260 million for an expansion of the water treatment plant, some major unknowns need to be answered;
The city says we are at 82% Capacity. How long did it take us to get there? How many more years before we are at capacity? How long will it take to build the expansion? Can we draw this expansion out over 5-10 years, doing incremental changes?
What percentage of treatment is used for nearby towns that contract Sioux Falls to treat their water? Can we increase their rates significantly?
What is our true population growth? And how does that breakdown? How many newborns? Retirees, immigrants, new people/families? How many from neighboring towns that already use our treatment plant?
Why are we using the enterprise funds for capital improvements? Shouldn’t this be for operations and maintenance? Why not use 2nd penny funds to pay down bonds of new plant?
As you can see, we have a lot of big questions that need answers before we decide to move forward with the new plant.
From what I could find online, it’s standard practice to start adding wastewater treatment capacity when the current facilities reach 80%. So it’s probably time to add a facility.
What I also found however, was a multitude of multi-page reports where the various city’s had to provide documentation showing how the capacity was calculated, historical data showing the growth rate, and a whole host of other data demonstrating peak flow data, system overload, etc.
That type of report other councils have required would answer a lot of the questions you listed.
Is any of this information available? or was it just “Oh, we’re at 82%, give us a new treatment plant.”
Can’t the new Jackley sales tax fund this? Else, everyone just needs to chill about this for a while and go have some fun at our new multi-million dollar Aquatic Center….
Much of this argument cannot be defined. Growth has been unpredictable and stagnation seems likely. There should be modernization with a fudge factor. We have no reason not to trust the Water Department as we do for Parks and Health. Give them room.
Daily Spin: What makes you sense stagnation might be coming? I hope the growth slows or stops at some point soon. What are your reasons for thinking along these lines? Genuinely curious.