City resident seeks more info on water, sewer rate plan
Honorable Mayor and City Council Members:
This letter is presented in regard to my April 9 email request to the City of Libby. I asked if it would be possible to meet with the Mayor, Mr. Sikes and Mr. Zimmerman to discuss some alternative options for resolving the critical issues raised last evening by Libby residents concerning the “proposed” significant rate increases in the water and sewer rates.
I attended the meeting via Zoom. Unfortunately, the transmission, both visual and audio, were of poor quality. Nor were any of the graphs or presentation notes provided by the City Administrator attached to the letter dated March 7 from the City in regards to the Public Hearing.
It is most difficult for your customers to be properly prepared to make “comments,” not ask questions as was directed by the Mayor when they have no prior knowledge of the content to be discussed.
When the Mayor closed the meeting, I did not hear any information from her or any council member in regard to the date when the final decision on the matter would be rendered. However, in my communication with Mr. Sykes today, I was advised that any comments or suggestions that I wanted to make had to be done in the next day or two.
His first reply to me was “you are welcome to come down and talk about alternatives that you believe would be better. Let me know when you can stop by. My contact info is below.”
Not knowing when the Council intended to take further action, I responded the following: “What does your schedule look like for Thursday, April 18 at 10 am? I am going to be out of town until the 17th but am flexible after that.”
His subsequent reply is as follows: “How can that be possible when the Resolution may be passed before that?
It’s now up to the Mayor to decide when the Resolution will go before the Council for decision. This process has been going on for a while, actually months now. The analysis was completed and presented to the Water and Sewer committee. The Committee recommended approval to the city council, then a presentation was given at a council meeting. The council then passed the Intent Resolution and has been accepting questions and comments.
A Public Hearing was actually one of the last steps, and that was held last night. I am now in the process of answering questions and comments from last night to help the council make their decision and customers to understand why. If you would like to talk, it has to be in the next day or two.”
My reply to that memo was: “What does your schedule look like tomorrow?” As of 9 pm tonight, I have no response.
For me the points of his conversations, both at the meeting and recent emails, that caught my attention are as follows:
1. I also asked to speak with the Mayor and Brian Zimmerman. Mr. Sikes states that I will only be speaking with him! Libby residents can speak for themselves; they elected these officials and should be able to speak with them personally.
2. Given the magnitude of the concerns voiced last evening, it is going to take days, if not weeks, to research them. For example, he needs to provide a list and explanation of his conversations conducted with alternate financing sources such as the USDA Rural Development Loan and Grant Program, the US-EPA Water Info Structure Act (WIFIA) office, the Montana Water Association, the Montana Association of Counties, the RRGL Grant Program office and local lending institutions.
3. Much discussion centered around the customer’s ability to pay the increased rates. He needs to provide his documentation for the “means” testing that he collected showing the impact of these increased costs on both the personal and business entities impacted by the changes. It is that kind of information that the Council must carefully consider so they can make an informed decision as to the impact on the entire community who elected them to make positive, workable decisions on their behalf as well as the city itself. Of the current customer base, how many accounts would be considered delinquent-past due 90 days or more?
4. He needs to present the customer base as well as the council with a list of repairs/replacements prioritized by need: urgent, scheduled, future, etc. Only then collectively, citizens and council, can they make an informed recommendation for establishing a successful long- term goal and action plan for administering the water and sewer operations.
5. The comment was made in regard to “what are other towns doing?” Provide your discussions with our neighboring communities such as Columbia Falls, Troy, Eureka. Share with Libby residents the structure of the Tobacco Valley Community Foundation that services the West Kootenai, Eureka, Rexford areas. Through that resource, the community takes an active role in the implementation and financing of projects that benefit everyone.
6. The graphs appear to contain a volume of technical data. That is good “detail” for some but it can be very overwhelming for others. For the majority of our residents especially our older, retired individuals, it needs to be refined and presented in a more concise, easy to read, and understand format. As Jack Lemon always said, “Just the facts people-just the facts.”
With the expertise in this community, I feel confident that we could be together an advisory team with the knowledge to help prepare a document that would be much more meaningful and convincing of the need to the electorate. It was also mentioned that research needs to be conducted on other rate formulas and options. Only one option does not make for sound decision making in cases of such magnitude and consequences.
7. Mr. Sikes mentions that this process has been going on for months. I trust that is very true on his part. However, the letter to the customer base is dated March 7, and the public meeting was held on April 8. That is a month on the public input side. Not nearly enough marketing was done to inform people of the implications of this resolution.
Having worked closely with the creation and growth of the community college board for 25 years, the community health center for 10 years, three years with the asbestos issue at the national level and 15 years at the local level and an insurance professional for 40 years, I feel confident that the citizens of Libby can find a more favorable solution to this controversy and immediate need to fix our water and sewer system to accommodate the growth of this beautiful community.
Everyone needs to breathe deeply, step back and dedicate ourselves to working together to find a solution that meets the needs of the citizens and the city and establishes a long-term operational plan for years to come.
With respect and understanding for the views of all, let us regroup and together create a compromised solution to this critical infrastructure need.
Sincerely,
Sandy Wagner, Libby