Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 1, 1993 TAG: 9310010252
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
At least three council members _ Nick Glenn, Andy Graham and Don Crispin - want to postpone any decision until December, when a report from consultants hired by the town is scheduled on the water rate structure and other water fund recommendations.
After a public hearing on the proposed increase Tuesday, Councilman J.R. Schrader joined Glenn and Graham in voting to delay a decision. Crispin has been out of town, but sent his comments opposing the increase by letter and joined in seeking the delay. Vice Mayor Rocky Schrader and Councilman Roy D'Ardenne argued against further delay, noting that the consultants, Ernst & Young, had warned that it might take as much as a 30 percent increase to revive the ailing water fund by December.
Councilman Junior Black joined them in voting against Glenn's motion to delay, so the 3-3 deadlock killed it.
Also absent from Tuesday's meeting were Alma Holston, who sent written comments asking for a delay in voting because she wanted a discount rate for senior citizens added, and Mayor Gary Hancock who was in Richmond. Hancock does not vote on council matters but could serve as a tie-breaker, something that has rarely been necessary.
"I ask that Ernst & Young look at a class of customers that are senior citizens who live alone and are on a fixed income, that these citizens be given a discount whereby they pay for what they use," Holston said in her written comments.
"These citizens, over the years, have paid for water and never complained. Now they ask that they pay only for what they use today," she said.
Both Crispin and Graham have said they oppose any increase based on the present rate structure, which sets the lowest rates for high-volume industrial users of water.
All users pay the same amount for the first 3,000 gallons - $6.38 a month, which would go to $7.91 under the proposed increase. The cost per 1,000 gallons decreases at the top of the scale, but that applies only to high-volume users.
Graham has warned for years that water rates must go up to avoid continuing water fund deficits. But he and Crispin oppose the current rate structure, which added the high-volume discounts two years ago. Both men opposed hiring the consultants.
"I felt then, as I do now, we had sufficient talent in our town government to arrive at a fair and equitable water rate increase without spending all that money," Crispin said. A majority of council voted to budget $30,000 for Ernst & Young.
"During the past few years, there was not sufficient water revenue to provide adequate maintenance and necessary capital improvements to upgrade our water system," Graham said.
"Make no mistake about this 24 percent projected general rate increase across the board," he added. "It will be in place when the final report comes in two months from now, and this in all probability will be the structured rate we will have in the future."
But he said he hoped Ernst & Young would "recommend adjustments to the rate structured to equitably recover costs from all users of the town water - both small and large-volume users."
If an interim rate is to become effective in October, today is the last day that council can act.
"As of right now, we're right where we were when we started the public hearing," Vice Mayor Schrader said at the conclusion of Tuesday's session.
by CNB