I was approached by the city clerk the other day while I was having lunch downtown. She told me that the council was voting on water/sewer/light rate increases tonight and asked if I was going to come to the meeting. I was unaware they were going to vote on this tonight. Minutes here. I’m kind of on the fence on this. Though I am disappointed that there has not been small rate increases over the years instead of all at once and that the planning and funding for the Lewis and Clark water pipe wasn’t more in advance. I still think the rate increases are needed, BUT I disagree with pre-paying for something me may not get, and may not supply enough water when we get it. The dirty little secret about Lewis & Clark is that it still isn’t a 100% done deal, we are still waiting for Federal funding, and recently Senator Johnson commented that he was not sure when that funding would come. We also don’t know what kind of water supply we will get from the pipeline, some say it will supply plenty of water, others say the river can’t supply enough. Not sure. The other problem I have with the rate increases is how much water our city WASTES on the city parks. They expect us to limit our watering, but they do not practice what they preach. I see the city overwatering several parks in our city. Everyone knows grass can go dormant without totally dying out. I have NEVER watered my lawn in the 5 years I have lived in my house. It usually goes dormant by the beginning of August, and guess what, it always grows back in the spring. My fear is that us as citizens are footing the bill for the city overwatering and overdevelopment.
Like I said, not sure how I feel about the rate increases, but I will say this, sewer and water rates are still the lowest of all my utilities.