Properties Committee
Tuesday, April 1 – 3:00 p.m.
Purpose: Farmers Market Facility Guidelines; Foreclosed Properties
Human Resources Committee
Tuesday, April 1 – 4:00 p.m.
Purpose: EDC Applications; Position Vacancies
Water Planning Committee
Wednesday, April 2 – 4:00 p.m.
Purpose: Refunds for roads where no lines will be installed; Dry Taps
I see that the Water Planning Committee, is scheduled to meet tomorrow, Wednesday, April 2, at 4:00 p.m. to discuss refunds for roads where no lines will be installed and dry taps. One can only hope the commissioners who are members of the committee had their Wheaties for breakfast. Also, we can hope that Darin Small, Lawrence Brame, and others will attend the meeting to see government in action.
The latest mailing from Envirolink pitching the water plan includes one glaring error and used two sheets of paper where one was sufficient. The waste of paper is not an issue for Envirolink, they just past that cost onto the Vance County taxpayers. The glaring error is an example of the misinformation that Mr. Small and Chairwoman Brown agree has been happening for years. What is the glaring error? Envirolink states post construction capacity fee is “approximately $2,000” while the County’s color brochure states post construction capacity fee is $500. The key word in Envirolink’s letter is approximately. A $1,500 difference in this case is more than an approximation error. The error is probably the result of county management’s failure to advice Envirolink of changes agreed to at the February 17th, Special Called Meeting. The Water Planning Committee met on February 11th, approved changes to capacity fee and revised the content of marketing brochure. County management did not present a mockup of the revised marketing brochure for the full board’s review before they voted on the changes. A clear example of how county management and the elected official have misinformed their prospective customers.
Suggested objectives of the Water Planning Committee:
1. Publically decide if the cost of the water system will be paid in full by the users of the system or subsidized by all the property owners until the customer base is sufficient to fund the system without the county property tax subsidies.
2. Publically disclose all details of a dry tap. The Envirolink letter states the $800 dry tap fee is valid for “2 – 3 years”. Is it two years or three years or another approximation? When does the clock begin? What is the point of the dry tap if the property owner will be forced to buy the wet tap in “2 – 3 years” from some imaginary start date?
3. Publically advise county management that future dissemination of misinformation such as the in latest marketing mailing is absolutely unacceptable.
1. I assume when you say”or subsidized by all the property owners until the customer base is sufficient” it means subsidized by all the property owners outside of the city limits, because they would be the ‘county’ taxpayers that could actually utilize this service. Those county taxpayers that are within the city limits have no access to this service, and taxing them ( by use of property taxes that they also pay) would be absolutely unethical, and I am sure many of them would pursue its legality.
Mingo, were non-property owners and property owners within the city and ETJ allowed to vote on May 2008 bond referendum allowing the County to borrow $28 million dollars to build the County Wide Water project? I recall that Chairman Danny Wright and the commissioners agreed that non-property owners and property owners had an equal say on the bond referendum. Had the May 2008 bond referendum been limited to property owners outside the city limits and ETJ, Vance County would not be in this $28 million dollar dilemma.