Just say no!
Editor’s note: The issue of “Wholesale Water Agreement – North Garland County Regional Water District” is slated to be part of the Board Discussion Session scheduled today, November 4, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. Click here to go to the Official POA YouTube channel. In the email below, Property Owner, Tom Blakeman, addressed Board Members and the General Manager:
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Dear Board & GM,
Item 6. on the discussion topic list (see below) is regarding a “Wholesale Water Agreement.”
I want to take this opportunity to remind all of you that selling POA / Village water and sewer services to the outside world is against the prohibitions clearly laid out in the Declaration. Prior boards have attempted such action, and most recently was one of the items (sewer service selling) voted down by the Property Owners in the so-called Declaration Vote a year or two ago.
It is apparent that the current proposal is ostensibly for a back-up water supply for the Village. Emphasis on the word “ostensibly.” The fact is that once a connection line is established, it will be a simple matter to then push water out of the Village as well as take it in during some or any “emergency.” Again this would be a violation of the Declaration.
It is recognized that the Village already had created an “emergency” connection with the Peron community some years ago. No doubt, this was/is also a violation of the Declaration. It is incumbent upon the Board and Management to cease and desist these attempts to circumvent the Declaration and the Property Owners’ will. We did not elect you (or hire you) to do such things. You should be managing what facilities and resources we have, utilizing your time and effort to such ends, and NOT pursuing things that are a bad idea and a violation of our Declaration.
Item 1. on the discussion topic list is the Proposed Budget. Part of that budget is the fee schedule, which includes the topic of water and sewer service fees. The proposed fee schedule and budget are set to impose yet another 3.0% increase in water/sewer rates. The weak justification for this move is a reference to some study supposedly done four years ago by previous and, as we all know, totally discredited, prior Administration and Boards. Water and sewer rates have continuously been going up every year since, in an attempt to obtain POA cash flow revenues from the resident Property Owners, which has not been obtainable through assessment increases or other means. This practice needs to stop. As with the selling of water outside, the Property Owners did not elect (or hire) you to nickel and dime us to death with fees. This 3.0% increase in the budget needs to be canceled and removed. You need to find some other way to increase POA revenues and reduce overhead and fixed costs. The water fee item in the Budget in question does none of these. Fix it.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Tom Blakeman, Property Owner, November 4, 2020
11-4-20-Board-to-Hold-Discussion-Session-November-4-2020-topics* * *
HSVPOA Official YouTube Channel
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David
11/05/2020 — 6:59 am
The proposed program will have to get Cooper approval to cross the easement. During the declaration vote issue John Cooper stated the village infrastructure was designed to support only the village. A previous attempt to hook-up to a Jessieville utility failed because Cooper would not approve.
Lloyd Sherman
11/05/2020 — 9:38 am
The difference now is that the “tact” being taken is that of an emergency water supply backup. Reality is that once a pipe is in, water can flow either direction. This has been tried so many different ways and there are those in the POA who see this as a revenue opportunity eventually because they do not have the where-with-all to find other creative revenue sources.
Phil Lemler
11/05/2020 — 11:10 am
and, many “other creative revenue sources” have been offered … BUT?
Sue Sutley
11/05/2020 — 10:18 pm
Amen, Mr. Blackman!
Drew C Kahle
11/06/2020 — 10:09 am
Please understand the meaning of this proposed agreement. In agreeing to join the Water Agreement we have a backup for fresh water in case our treatment plant fails or if our source of water becomes contaminated. Both scenarios are a distinct possibility and having this agreement gives us some breathing room to recover from these catastrophes. No where in the agreement is the option to sell our water back to North Garland County. If that should become an issue it can be addressed but not having an alternate source of water is foolhardy and dangerous to the well being of the Village.
Kirk Denger
11/07/2020 — 10:44 pm
Drew understands best.
Please understand that the water pressure coming from a 48 mile long reservoir is somewhat greater than a 1/4 mile reservoir, such that the lower reservoir will not be able to back feed the larger reservoir until or unless the larger reservoir runs dry.
Connecting to the massively larger reservoir is a super great achievement for the future of HSV.
Thank you for the foresight of Staff and Administrations for keeping HSV on course.