By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Blackwater Public Service District met in regular session May 20th at the Davis Town Hall. In attendance were Davis Mayor Al Tomson and Judy Cronauer. Board Member Thomas Mayor Jody Flanagan was absent.
On the agenda, the Board discussed updates on the building project and funding, as well as the progression of the setting of rates for the new sewer plant. Also discussed during the meeting was the final determination of a building site.
The PSD accountant is studying the existing rates for the towns of Davis and Thomas with an eye for whether there will be a combined rate in the future, Tomson said.
“The challenge is that we don’t have a funding mechanism yet,” Tomson said. “So that makes it difficult for him to do that, but he’s giving it a good go.”
RK&K are examining the operational and maintenance costs of the project in closer detail, as well, according to Tomson. The operations and management costs of the facility will be a cost factor in the construction of the new project. When compared to the cost to build, it may be revealed that it is expensive to build, but less expensive to operate, but the opposite may just as likely be true, Tomson said. That is the goal of the reexamination, to fully understand the overall cost of operating the new plant.
“Its one thing to look at what the investment is to build it in the first place, but then you have to look at the operations cost, too,” Tomson said. “And combing the two, you get a real feel for what it costs to run an operation.”
RK&K is setting up a meeting with the State to discuss funding opportunities. Tomson said that help is being sought from the top people in the State in regards to funding water and sewer projects. Also in funding, Region VII is completing an application for funding through an Abandoned Mine Land Grant with a July due date.
Tomson said that he will be getting together with Western Pocahontas to discuss the possible reallocation of an AML Grant for $12.5 million that was received for building housing by Mettiki. Tomson said he did not believe the Western Pocahontas Project was going to be completed as planned.
Tucker County Commissioner Fred Davis was a guest at the meeting. Davis said his largest concern was the cost of operation for the new plant and the potential cost to the citizens of the county.
“When its finished, if we can keep the cost down, that would help the people of Thomas and Davis,” Davis said. “They wouldn’t have to pay as high sewer bill because my concern is I want to keep that sewer bill down as much as we can.”
Tomson said that he was not concerned with the end cost of the sewer bills as they were tied to the Median Household Income for the area, which was locked in for 10 years. By State regulation, the sewer bills are set by 1.5% of MHI. The percentage is rated so that the municipality can receive government funding for projects. As long as the PSD rates their bills at 1.5 of MHI they can continue to receive government grants and loans and keep the sewer rates as low as possible for customers, according to Tomson. The current rates in Davis and Thomas are in line with MHI requirements, Tomson said.
“So our rates should be fine for applying now for a lot of grant money,” Tomson said.
A site has been selected next to the landfill for the new sewage treatment plant. The new site will be located to the left of the landfill road in front of the landfill and will not be interfered by the proposed power plant and data center project by Fundamental Energy, Tomson said. Tomson said the site selected was “probably the best place to put it.”
The site was selected due in part for its proximity to the landfill. Future plans for the site include the site tying into the landfill for direct access to a line for leachate treatment at the new plant. The landfill location will allow access to the plant from the landfill via a short pipeline.
“Leachate, if they set it up right for leachate, that is going to be a good plus for the landfill, getting rid of the leachate because that is one of the most expensive bills they got,” Davis said.
Ground has been broken on the Davis sewer project, Tomson said. There was no word on the status of the Thomas project, but Tomson did mention that there was word of funding issues with the project.
Discharge for the site, Tomson said, would be into the North Fork.
Planning for a Public Meeting is still ongoing.
