THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280458
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Public utility rates may be going up soon because the city must make $23 million in improvements to its water and sewer systems.
Portsmouth residents, who now pay the lowest rates in the region, will be asked to back bonds to cover the construction in a referendum Nov. 8. But until those bonds are sold, it is impossible to predict just how much the rates will increase, said James R. Spacek, director of public utilities.
``The rates will have to go up with the improvements,'' Spacek said. ``But I think we'll still probably have the lowest rates in the region and the service will be better.''
Spacek will host an informational session for residents on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall. Afterward he will take citizens on a tour of the city's water and sewer facilities, including the new Broad Street tank, the Godwin Street complex, the Douglas Avenue pump station, the Lake Kilby Water Treatment plant and the Lake Cohoon dam.
The majority of the bond money - $14 million - will be used to build new treatment processes at the Lake Kilby Water Treatment Plant to meet federal clean water regulations. Those improvements are mandated and must be on line by 1998. Spacek estimates construction will take at least two years.
Other projects include a new $4 million water tank at Godwin Street to replace the existing tank; a $2 million rehabilitation of deteriorated sewer and water mains throughout the city; and $1.3 million to correct water and sewer problems in several neighborhoods, including Highland Biltmore, Truxtun, South Portsmouth, Simonsdale and the Mayflower Road area.
The Godwin Street water tank must be replaced, Spacek said. The original tank was built during World War II, and chemicals used in the tank's construction have begun turning into a gel and contaminating the water.
The tank provides about 30 percent of the city's in-town storage.
The city plans to use revenue bonds to finance the improvements. But because the bonds will be backed ``by the full faith and credit'' of the city, so-called ``double barrel bonds,'' voters must approve them in a public referendum.
By using bonds backed by the city's credit, Portsmouth will get a lower interest rate and expects to save thousands. ``If the voters don't approve it (the referendum), the council will be faced with the inevitable decision to do the improvements anyway at a higher interest rate,'' Spacek said.
KEYWORDS: WATER UTILITY INCREASE by CNB