The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
City council is poised to cap free sewage pumpouts for Channing residents next year under a plan to contain spending in the subdivision. Though nothing is finalized, Mayor George Fontaine said he thinks each Channing home will be limited to one city-funded pumpout per week, at most, as of August 2014. Addressing a public forum Tuesday, Mayor Fontaine said he was comfortable with this limit and that the 20-plus Channing residents in attendance seemed to be as well. 'We need to make a change,' he told the crowd, gathered in the city hall council chambers, repeatedly stressing the need for fairness and cooperation. As part of the plan, the city would offer subsidies of $2,000 to homeowners who need to install a larger sewage tank in order to reduce the frequency of their pumpouts. The city has budgeted $20,000 for subsidies this year, with priority going to homeowners who currently need the most pumpouts. There are plans to budget another $20,000 next year. Since some homeowners will need to upgrade their tanks, Mayor Fontaine said, the city will wait a year before implementing any changes. See 'Never' on pg. Continued from pg. For the past decade, strictly as a matter of fairness, the city has funded sewage pumpouts for the Channing and Wally Heights subdivisions, which are not connected to the municipal sewer system. There have never been restrictions on the number of pumpouts allowed, prompting concerns that a few residents are using the system too often _ either because their tank is too small or simply because someone else is footing the bill. Mayor Fontaine said some people are getting two or three pumpouts a week, which is 'not sensible.' 'Nobody here would do that on their own dime, ever,' he told the crowd. Pressed for specifics as to how many residents are getting three pumpouts a week, Chief Administrative Officer Mark Kolt put the number at fewer than 10. If the city does indeed limit pumpouts, Channing residents will still be able to get additional pumpouts _ it would just be at their own cost. That fact had some residents at Tuesday's forum questioning the fairness of council's approach. 'How would you feel if the city decided, 'let's put a meter on your toilet and once you get to a certain number (of flushes), then you're going to pay'?' longtime Channing resident Donna Law told council. 'I'm a resident like everybody else. I should get the same service.' Conceding that three pumpouts per week is 'obviously too much,' Law implored council to sort out the matter with those individuals. Discharge There were also concerns that pumpout limits would only encourage people to discharge their wastewater into the environment. Some worried about exceeding a once-per-week limit when they have visitors, or even foster kids, staying at their homes. Others suggested that as part of the weekly limit, council grant each resident a few free 'emergency' pumpouts per year. Mayor Fontaine did not commit to emergency pumpouts, but said the matter would be considered and discussed. Council's push for fiscal prudence is not the only factor behind the proposal. The pumpout contractor has said it would be easier to bill the city for each pumpout rather than the current per-gallon system. Paying for every pumpout would also simplify things for the city, as it has found no reliable way to measure how many gallons are being removed from the sewage tanks. But should the service even rely on a contractor? One resident urged the city to take over the pumpouts entirely by buying its own septic truck and hiring its own driver. There appeared to be no support for that concept among council, with Coun. Bill Hanson estimating it would double the municipality's cost. For Coun. Skip Martin, 'individual responsibility' factors heavily into the city's plan, which would create a financial incentive for residents to conserve. 'There's no individual responsibility (now) _ they're just getting pumped out continuously,' he said. As far as the need for new sewage tanks, Mayor Fontaine said council believes most residents will be able to keep the tanks they have. While the city is willing to help install larger tanks, he said there must be some responsibility on the homeowner's part as well. Mayor Fontaine said the city does not expect anyone to wait until the last possible minute, with the accumulation of sewage stinking up their yard, to have their tanks pumped out. But a larger tank does give people more leeway, he said. Council headed into Tuesday's forum originally proposing a limit of one pumpout every 10 days, a number in line with what most Channing residents are already doing. There was thought that the city could then eventually move to one pumpout every two weeks. It's possible council could eventually go down one of those paths, but for now Mayor Fontaine is suggesting no more than one pumpout every week. The proposal impacts only sewage pumpouts to Channing and Wally Heights, not water delivery, which is also funded by the city. The city spent $66,605 on pumpouts in 2012, an 18 per cent jump over 2011. The $20,000 the city has budgeted for tank subsidies this year, and the planned $20,000 for next year, is a reflection of how many homeowners the city believes will need new tanks. The combined total of $40,000 would provide subsidies for 20 homes.
