| Darrel Leamaster presents the facts, at the Cleveland Town Council meeting, about the water and sewer rate increase the Castle Valley Service District is requesting. |
Castle Valley Special Service District manager, Darrel Leamster has been traveling to the city meetings in each town to discuss the upcoming raise in water and sewer rates. He has been to Ferron, Elmo, Huntington and Cleveland. Leamaster said, “People have generally been pretty supportive. They have the question why and when I go through the presentation they can understand the need for the increases. We have had more expenditures than revenues and once people realize that they have been supportive.”
At the recent service district meeting updates and approvals of 2004 projects were on the agenda. Two bids were received for the curb and gutter projects. When the bids were opened, both were more than the amount the engineers had estimated. It was decided by the board to rebid the projects.
Many of the towns represented expressed the thought that they would be willing to negotiate out some of the summer projects to lower the cost. Leamaster informed the cities that their revised plans would need to be in as soon as possible to allow enough time to advertise for the bids and get the projects underway.
Leamaster noted that the soil and perc tests have been completed for the Ferron lagoon project. The designs are moving along as expected also, although, the price of pipe is becoming a concern. PVC prices have risen dramatically in the last few weeks. The deadline for the design is May 1.
The district is moving ahead with the Ferron City sewer lagoon project. Ferron City is responsible for obtaining and paying for the easements needed for the project
The bid for the River Bottom Road project in Huntington was awarded on March 9 and the project is scheduled to begin on March 29. Bids on the drainage projects will be opened at the next meeting.
Water and sewer projects for the 2004 season will include a sewer line in Castle Dale and a water line in Orangeville. Drawings are in the planning stages now and the easement requirements will be coming soon.
More drives will be coming for the secondary water systems this fall. This means that the new pumps will be ready for next year. In Castle Dale, a project to redo the screens in the pond is being planned. The hope is that the screens will be installed this fall.
The crack sealing project on the roads in Castle Dale is complete. The final cost came in very close to the estimate.
CVSSD is in the planning stages of purchasing a new Vactor truck. Spec sheets were reviewed by the board. Leamaster explained that price of the basic truck, and with the options necessary for the work done in the district, the final price is $239,000. This truck will be acquired through a lease/purchase agreement with four installments to be made.
Leamaster also informed the board that two of the public hearings concerning the increase in the water and sewer rate have been held. He said the meetings went very well and were well attended. He also presented a request from Elmo Town to structure the water rates and hookup fees along the same lines as the secondary water is handled at present. This is an item that was brought only for consideration and does not require board action at this time.
Leamaster explained the new legislation that came this year. He said that the water conservation bill now has more consequences. Water districts need to have a plan outlining their individual conservancy plans and how those goals will be attained. He also said that each town, with the exception of Elmo, Clawson and Emery, will be required to have a plan.
Eric Anderson, councilman from Emery, informed the board that Emery Town is very concerned about the loss of water supply for the town. He said that since the mining activity under Julius Flat Reservoir began, the towns wells, springs, creeks and reservoirs are drying up. He asked for any suggestions to the course of action Emery can take to prevent any further loss of water. This issue is of great concern for not only secondary, but culinary water as well.
The announcement was made that the secondary water would be turned on sometime after April 15. The next Castle Valley Special Service meeting will be held April 22 at 7:30 p.m.