02-11-1981 Additions I - Laserfiche WebLink

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3/9/81 SEWAGE TREATMENT - Page 2 The Metropolitan Council chose to do nothing to force the separation of the combined sewers as was recommended in a recently completed MWCC study of the problem. Instead, their action, as previously stated, was to remove the incentive for St. Paul to act by transfer- ring 1 to 1.7 millin dollars in sewer fees to the suburbs. Their primary discussions concerned the establishment of a questionable metering system to measure how much water flows from the four lakes. These transferred costs will cause huge impacts on the sewer budgets of the affected suburbs. They will see their treatment fee cost in- crease from 31% to over 50%, depending on the actual reallocation. Based on the study done for the MWCC, some cities would face sewer bills that double or almost triple. The impact to the residents and businesses in these communities is obvious. Since there is no reason to assume the sewers will be separated soon, these added costs would be charged for many years. Using estimated costs that are even lower than currently estimated by the MWCC, the cost to the suburbs over the next ten years would be from $17 to $29 million dollars. This is a staggering cost to add to the suburbs. The idea of charging the suburbs these sums is even more unbelievable when you look at the MWCC study. It reports that the sewers could be separated for $3 to $7.5 million dollars, depending on the method selected. As you can see, this is 4 to 5 times cheaper than paying for clear lake water treatment. The annual cost for the separation projects would be only $333,000 to $555,000, depending on the method of separation. Remember, also, that these costs are constant each year, while the MWCC cost per gallon climbs higher and higher each year and todays fees will be increased several times over, to $3 or $4 million dollars per year, within the same ten -year span. In summary, the suburbs feel that their being charged for treating the clear lake water, which St. Paul puts into combined sewers, is grossly unfair. The outmoded combined sewer system, which St. Paul refuses to modernize, is creating problems for the entire metropolitan sewage treatment area. The MWCC study shows that the separation costs are far less than the fees being charged to treat this clear water. Finally, the treatment fees will create huge increases in cost to the suburbs and the expenses will worsen each year. The recently altered fee system should be nullified and the clear water removed from the sanitary sewer plant. JUNE DEMOS, Mayor