Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991 TAG: 9104030449
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER/ MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The monthly water bill for a residential customer who uses 5,000 gallons would increase from $3.89 to $7.
The dime-a-day plan is one proposal being studied; others would gradually raise rates and separate the improvements into phases.
Residents can expect a substantial rate increase, probably this summer, regardless of the plan adopted.
Consultants have said the improvements are needed because the filtration plant and water distribution system are operating at capacity, and the city must meet new federal regulations for water quality.
In addition to expanding the plant, the city needs to enlarge several pump stations and build new transmission lines.
The plant and its related facilities, constructed in the 1940s and expanded in the 1950s, are operating satisfactorily but could easily fail, consultants said.
City Manager Robert Herbert said the filtration plant has a rated capacity of 18 million gallons a day, but demand exceeded that amount on 27 days in the past year. The plant also operated at capacity for 87 days.
Because of the heavy demand for water - particularly during summer - he said, water pressure is low in some neighborhoods.
Consultants said the plant's capacity needs to be increased to 28 million gallons a day.
"Everything is going full blast. If any element were to go out, you would be in a difficult situation," William Richardson, a partner with Alvord, Burdick & Howson, a Chicago consulting engineering firm, told city officials recently.
Herbert told the Southeast Action Forum on Tuesday night that the city could be hard pressed to provide enough water for fire protection if it had three major fires in succession.
"Fortunately, we have not had critical fire problems, but we would have a tremendous drain on our system and water might not be available for a wide area if we had an emergency situation with fires," he said.
Herbert said the city has plenty of water in the Carvins Cove reservoir, but needs to be able to treat more water and have a larger pumping capacity. And the city needs backup transmission lines, he said.
The city has no backup system for several pumps or for the main transmission line to the Carvins Cove plant. If the line were broken in an accident, the water supply would be cut off.
Recommended improvements include a 36-inch transmission line from the filter plant to the Boxley Hills pump station. A 24-inch line also would be built from Boxley Hills to the Crystal Spring pump station.
Kit Kiser, director of utilities and operations, said the dime-a-day plan would be the cheapest in the long run, but would require a larger initial boost in rates.
One alternative plan would gradually raise rates - by 62 cents a month in July, 95 cents in 1992, $1.15 in 1993 and $1.39 in 1994.
Another calls for rates to increase by 70 cents a month in July, 82 cents in 1992 and 97 cents in 1993 to pay for half the $28 million in improvements. The other half would be financed by later rate increases.
City officials said businesses and industries would face larger increases in water bills because they use larger amounts. The city also is considering changes in the way that rates are computed for large customers.
If the dime-a-day proposal is adopted, Roanoke's water rates would be the same as Salem's and still about 40 percent lower than Roanoke County's.
Roanoke's water rates are among the lowest in the state. Compared with the $3.89 bill for a customer who uses 5,000 gallons a month, Salem charges $7 and Roanoke County $12.21. The bill is $10.87 in Bedford County and $18.50 in Botetourt County.
City Council has asked Herbert and Finance Director Joel Schlanger to recommend a financing plan. Herbert said he will make a recommendation next month.
City officials will make more presentations to civic and neighborhood organizations in the next six weeks on the need for the improvements and financing alternatives. Letters have been sent to more than 100 groups informing them that officials are available to speak on the issue.
"We face a tough problem and that is why I am here tonight to talk about it," Herbert told the Southeast group. "We've got a problem and we've got to do something about it."
by CNB