By Karen Hall

Editor

When the City Council meets Tuesday, they could vote for the first time on an ordinance to raise the base charge for water and sewer.

Such an ordinance requires three votes to pass, so unless special-call meetings are held, the last vote could come in December, with the rate change taking effect in the next billing cycle.

"That's the plan right now," said City Manager Randall Dunn. "Unless somebody moves to defer it."

When councilmen began discussing the Water Department's request to raise the base rate for water by $6 and for sewer by $4, Councilman Trigg Cathey said, "You asked for more information, and Bill Marsh will present it."

Marsh handed councilmen sheets of figures for comparison, but the summary he gave was the same as at the previous session.

"Consumption is steadily trending downward," Marsh said. "No one wants to increase rates, but we feel like it's going to have to be done to get us in the black. If we don't do it, we could be in the hole by $653,000."

"If the Water Department had been a private business, it probably would be going out of business," exclaimed Councilman Robin Minor.

Minor then made a presentation to his fellow councilmen about errors in judgment he feels the Water Department has made.

"I don't believe anybody's cooking any books," Minor admitted, but said he thought the extension of the line down State Route 129 to Lynnville was a mistake, and so were raises for Water Department employees, when city employees got none.

"We're stuck between a rock and a hard place," said Minor.

Cathey had prepared a lengthy written rebuttal to Minor's points, and gave every councilman a copy.

In it, he explains the Water Department has cut expenses to the bare minimum, and that its restricted reserves are just that, "restricted," because they contain refundable customer deposits, and money for a year's worth of bond payments.

The projects of running water and sewer to Oak Grove School and to the I-65 Commerce Park were expensive, but everyone at the time agreed they were necessary and worth borrowing money for. As for the $11 million borrowed for the new holding tank and upgrades to the sewage treatment plant, this was mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency, and fines for the city would have started at $1,000 per day, if the project had not been done.

The purchase of Cornersville's water system, which Minor criticized, was a good business decision, Cathey wrote, because it brings in money every year. The extension of the line to Lynnville was not a waste of money, he added, because is looking to the future, when there may be businesses at Exit 27.

And finally, Cathey put in writing what Marsh said at the earlier work session: even with an increase, Lewisburg Water and Wastewater's rates will not be the highest in the surrounding area. Right now, Lewisburg has the cheapest water of the 12 surrounding districts.

Cathey concluded with his personal reaction, "I personally do not like this increase because of how it will affect me. I think we all get upset when important things go up in price," but he points out, "It is one thing to stand up for the citizens, it is another thing to vote against an inevitable 'real world' rate increase and risk your water department being taken over by the heavy hand of the federal government."

And finally, perhaps most important, if the Water Department defaults on bond payments it owes, the City of Lewisburg, which guaranteed the bonds, will be responsible for paying them.

The question raised at the last work session concerning the price of water and sewer -- whether the City Council had to approve a change in the base rate, or whether they were limited to approving a change in the price of water -- was answered by City Attorney Steve Broadway, and confirmed by lawyers of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service.

In fact, said Minor, reading from Broadway's letter, "Our ordinance is in conflict with state law. The City Council has the duty to approve ALL increases or decreases in utility rates. It is the governing body's duty to establish the rates."