Last night, I was expecting to be at the senior center in Hillsborough until 10:30 p.m., maybe midnight, for the budget public hearing. From my count, less than 100 people were in attendance, less than 70 if you take away county employees (though one spoke against some budget cuts).
Many of the speakers argued against the delay in funding for Carrboro High School's arts wing, against the closing of the Carrboro McDougle and Cedar Grove library branches or the lack of commercial tax revenue in Orange County. But the largest contingent in the crowd — close to 40 people — came to speak about the Efland sewer system, which serves slightly more than 200 people in the Efland Cheeks area of the county, many of them in affordable housing. Specifically, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County's Richmond Hills community is on the system.
As we reported in January, residents will see substantial increases in water and sewer rates, eventually close to 300 percent of their current bills, according to some homeowners. These fees are not exactly part of the current budget crunch; commissioners decided last year to delay the implementation of fees from Jan. 1 to July 1.
The current sewer rates are $15.20 for all customers using 3,000 gallons or less per month. In July, only customers using 1,000 gallons or less per month will see a lower monthly charge.
A minimum bill under the current rates is $15.20. By July 2012, the minimum will would be $36.66.
You can read more about their reactions in next week's edition.
• We'll also be sure to keep tabs on the Millhouse Road transfer station idea, which Vanessa has a follow-up on next week. Some readers were concerned we were overlooking Tuesday's meeting; because of our production schedule, the paper is put to bed by the time these meetings start (or shortly afterward) about 90 percent of the time. The 10 percent includes election coverage and major board votes — the projected final decision on the long, winding station search saga is supposed to be Aug. 18, a Tuesday. As of right now, that's something for which we'd hold production.
Now, Millhouse Road is in Chapel Hill, no doubt about it. The Bingham Township sites have Chapel Hill postal addresses, but they are in the rural community we consider part of our coverage zone. Typically, Chapel Hill and Carrboro are not our areas. However, this is a universal issue involving the county's trash, and based on the response we've been receiving about it, readers continue to seek details in our pages. So, we'll keep following it.
Hope everybody has a nice Memorial Day weekend. We'll be back in on Monday, and I'll take my day off sometime this summer.
The Millhouse Road site is not within Chapel Hill's town limits.
ReplyDeleteWhen reporting about the sewer system, are you going to report how many tens of thousands of dollars per year is spent out of the general fund to subsizdize the system? The new rates are asking that users (i.e., the people benefiting) pay the full price on the service; thereby ending the era of the rest of us paying for something that doesn't directly benefit us.