Citizens Investigation of Sewer Fund Leads to Reimbursement
At its meeting on January 18, the City Council voted unanimously to reimburse the Sewer Fund for $275,000 used for Crest Road repairs. Piedmont residents Rick Schiller and Rob Hendrickson thoroughly investigated the payment of $275,000 from the Piedmont Sewer Fund for road repair work on Crest Road.
A rainwater washout occurred in 2009 in a vault dug for the undergrounding of the problematic Piedmont Hills Underground Utility District (PHUUD). Incomplete coverage of the vault during a heavy rainstorm resulted in water intrusion problems on Crest Road.
Schiller and Hendrickson contended for months that the use of the Sewer Fund money for the repair was improper because no sewers or storm drain work was involved. Letters, information, and emails provided to the City supported their contention. Schiller conclusively determined there were no trench dams controlling rain water installed on Crest Road as the staff reports had stated. Hendrickson objected to the use of Sewer Fund money to pay for a problem unrelated to sewers.
The Sewer Fund will be reimbursed from the City General Fund. The total public funds expended on the PHUUD undergrounding project continue to climb to over $2.5 million dollars. Meanwhile, the City is attempting to recoup its loss through litigation against the outside contracting firms.
Ordinance 699 N.S. was passed by the Council last October to implement the Measure A sewer surtax if the tax passes on February 7. According to the City and the Measure A supporters, the sewer surtax needed by the city to comply with the city’s legal obligations regarding management of its sanitary sewer system, specifically a supposed “EPA Order” to complete replacement of mainlines by 2020. But an EPA order on replacement is non-existent. (Measure A opponents who repeatedly have pointed this out publicly have never been challenged by the City or supporters.) On top of that Section 20.F.6 of Ordinance 699 N.S. provides that “funds from this surtax may be used in either the sanitary sewer system or the city storm sewer system as defined in Section 30.2.2.4 of the City Code.” How can anyone be so gullible after this to believe the tax is for the sanitary sewer system or even needed for the system?
The use of the sewer fund for non-sanitary sewer purposes was written into Ordinance 699 N.S. which put Measure A, the sewer tax surcharge, on the Feb. 7 ballot. Specifically
Section 20.F.6 of Ordinance 699 N.S. provides that funds from this surtax may be used in either the sanitary sewer system or the city storm sewer system as defined in Section 30.2.2.4 of the City Code. The passage of Measure A will further bloat the sewer fund with taxpayer money for other than the intended sanitary sewer use. The apparent practice of using the sewer fund as a city slush fund can be stopped by taxpayers voicing their concern with a NO vote on Feb. 7.