Boonville resident Jim Lutticken sent the following letter to the Community Services District Board which was discussed at last Wednesday evening’s Board meeting.
Dear AVCSD Board Members
The proposal to impose* a sewer system on every parcel within the sewer district boundary in Boonville is a bad idea.
The problem that the sewer system purports to solve, clean drinking water, is addressed by the proposed community water system which I fully support.
The sewer system proposal will hurt everyone who has a working septic system. They will be required to pay for the maintenance and upkeep of the new sewer system they do not need. And their working septic systems will be permanently disabled.
There are also technological issues. For example, if there is a power outage of more than two or three days, there’s no viable plan to pump all the grinder pumps in a timely manner.
The currently estimated yearly cost for maintenance and operation is probably understated. It’s likely that some people cannot pay or will not pay the fee that they will owe forever. The cost of legal action to collect those fees, for example, put a lien on delinquent properties, is not included in the budget.
Also the yearly cost for labor to operate and maintain the sewer system seems very much understated.
Please reconsider your position on the proposed sewer system. Please withdraw your approval of it.
I hope for the sake of Boonville and for the sake of your legacy, that you stop this system from becoming a reality.
Thank You, Jim Lutticken
PS. * I say impose, because in this election, non-votes are counted as approving of the system. In most elections that I know of, non-votes aren’t counted. In this election, in order to vote “no” one must state one’s objection and mail their ballot back. Also, there’s no way for non-landowners to have a voice in this matter, although the cost will likely be passed on to tenants.
CSD Board members didn’t dispute Lutticken’s main points individually. Although, they think the engineers have accommodated the potential power-outage problem.
Instead, they said, basically that:
The sewer system project is too far along to stop at this point.
Many Boonville septic systems and leach fields are on the verge of collapse or of being declared unfunctional/red-tagged by county or state water authorities, especially as new regulations are enacted.
The aquifer from which the Boonville area draws water will be increasingly polluted by overburdened, aging or failed private septic systems.
Most of the construction cost will be covered by the state, and this is probably the last chance to deal with downtown Boonville’s historically poor septic systems.
The property owners in the proposed sewer system district will have plenty of opportunity to formally protest the project via the Environmental Impact Report, the soon to be published “rate letter” laying out the costs and rates for customers, and the parcel by parcel “protest vote” to be conducted when the consulting engineers finish estimating the project and operating/maintenance cost.
The Board thanked Mr. Lutticken for his input, but respectfully declined to change any of their plans.
For further information about the Boonville water and sewer projects go to the “water & wastewater projects” section of the Community Services District’s (newly upgraded) website: avcsd.org
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