Heather Drake
Two issues of concern for area Greens have been resolved at CBU -- and in a way that should make us glad!
First, CBU has decided not to privatize the management of our waste water treatment facilities. Instead, the utility will stick with public employees. A new Labor-Management Committee, proposed by the employees, will have input in the hiring of a new plant manager. The employee committee will also help lead the waste water utility through benchmarking, procedures documentation, and computerization projects.
Special kudos for this success story should go to Stacy Ream and Milton Fisk. They brought this issue to the public's attention and stuck with it through the long months of meetings and deliberation. Without their determination and hard work, and the willingness of concerned citizens to speak out against this proposal, Bloomington would undoubtedly have slid even further down the privatization path.Second, new sewer connection fee rates have been adopted. The base sewer hook-on fee will rise from $500 to $1000. Customers who install larger meters, such as businesses and real estate developers, will pay a higher fee based on their calculated equivalent usage. Apartment complexes, for example, will pay $650 per unit rather than the old flat fee of $1600. (You can find details about the new fee structure on the web at: www.city.bloomington.in.us/utilities/ord01-16.html).
The new structure remedies a gross inequity that allowed large users to pay less than their fair share in connection fees. Greens can also be pleased to see a policy that exposes more of the hidden costs of growth. Only by exposing these hidden costs can we hope to judge whether proposed development is worth the price.