Sewer blues
Out at the coast, it's going to drive some people out of their homes. Down south, it's driving a county into bankruptcy. In Portland, will it wind up doing either or both?
| Posted at 10:38 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (7)
Scary.
While reading about Jefferson County, Alabama's descent into possible bankruptcy in the article you linked, I read this little tidbit:
"Jefferson County got into trouble after it was forced by the courts to undertake a huge upgrade of its sewage system to meet federal water standards and stop raw and partially treated waste from being dumped into streams."
Put that unfunded mandate in a big pipe and smoke it. . .
Posted by Robert Canfield | September 2, 2008 11:19 AM
Meanwhile Kulongoski is spending $28 million to dismantle the New Carissa, a harmless tourist attraction.
The Democratic Party of Oregon.
Taking care of business.
Posted by Howard | September 2, 2008 11:41 AM
The thing about this is places like CoP knew for 20+ years that the sewer system would be not be enough. If nothing else, they can notice when they dump sewage in the river or their rosy population forecasts would increase the load.
However, not once did I ever hear anyone on city council say that we should set aside monies for repair. The same thing is happening with the rest of the infrastrcuture like bridges and underground plumbing, they just wait unitl it blows up and then hold taxpayers hostage for higher fees.
Posted by Steve | September 2, 2008 1:03 PM
Only $4,863 per person? We are over $8,811 and growing.
Posted by Mick Harris | September 2, 2008 1:36 PM
Howard - That money came from a settlement with the freight company that owned the ship.
Republicans of Oregon.
Pride in Ignorance.
Posted by ElGordo | September 2, 2008 6:31 PM
Robert,
You call it an unfunded mandate, the people who live down stream call it protecting our drinking supply from cheap ass cities up stream that dump raw sewage in the stresm...
Posted by eric k | September 2, 2008 7:43 PM
Local municipalities would be wise to adopt a long term financial plan that adds capital reserve funds in order to have the funds available to upgrade their water and sewer treatment facilities. When I served on our city commission, we did just that after having inherited the mandate to upgrade both of our facilities. For too long, rates were left artificially low. The rates did not even truly cover the cost of operation let alone future capital costs. We took the bull by the nose and raised rates in order to get the funds on solid ground. As I served on that commission, I constantly spoke of the desire to make the job easier for those who will sit on the commission 20 years from now because of the decisions we made.
Posted by Jeff | September 3, 2008 4:50 AM