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Halifax County Public Service Authority members took no action Tuesday
night following an hour long public hearing on the proposed water-sewer
rates which were advertised to become effective on January 1, 2008.
Instead the Authority set another meeting for this Friday afternoon,
December 7 at 3 p.m. in Halifax Town Hall to discuss possible changes
to the proposed rates. Authority chairman Doug Bowman also announced
that implementation of the new rates would be delayed for a two month
period, taking effect on March 1, 2008 rather than on January 1, 2008.
Prior to opening the public hearing, Gary McCollum of Draper Aden
Consultants, who drafted the proposed rates, explained how they were
arrived at. McCollum said the rates were based largely on an overall
four percent increase for South Boston customers with rates equalizing
over a ten year period. He said South Boston had base rates in a medium
range while Halifax had very low base rates, but high volume rates. He
noted that the South Boston system had sufficient reserve capacity with
its system being in good condition while the Halifax water system was
near capacity and needed major improvements. He estimated that overall
improvements to Halifax's system, if Council had opted to do that,
would run in the neighborhood of $2,225,000. McCollum was questioned by
Halifax resident Ted Bennett about the efficiency of the proposed
system, but McCollum explained that it was equitable rates that the
schedule addressed.
What members got during the public hearing, which was attended by some
50 people, was an earful as four members of Halifax Town Council and
several residents of the Town addressed Authority members, telling them
of their displeasure with the steep first year increase in rates for
Halifax Town users with some reaching as high as 84 percent.
Councilman Phil Hollis, the first to speak, told Authority members "our
citizens are not being treated fairly... their rates are sharply higher
than (those) for others."
Hollis asked Authority members to move quickly to adopt rates which
will reflect rate parity for all.
His comments were followed by those of town resident, Bill Confroy, who
serves on the Halifax Planning Commission and who is a retired
executive director of the County's Industrial Development Authority.
Confroy said the Public Service Authority is a brand new organization
and what has happened in the past should be left out of the equation.
"Many of us here have worked for this goal for years and I ask you to
think about the future. Bite the bullet and set the rates equally,"
Confroy urged.
Councilman Dick Moore told Authority members that what he voted for
when Council approved the Town's membership in the Authority only
called for increases for the very small user. "These increases were not
shown when we discussed these rates earlier," Moore said, noting that
he had gone back through all his information from the Authority and
could find nothing about the hefty increases now being proposed. "If
the rates were to be changed so much, why were we not notified?" he
asked.
But a Town resident, retired school teacher Linda Mercer, asked "why is
the small user being called upon to bear the brunt of the burden? I'd
rather repair the Halifax system and pay a lump sum for that, we'd have
cleaner water."
A business owner in the Town, Nookie Green who co-owns H&L Laser Car
Wash, said the increases could affect his business because a
Centerville car wash would be paying the much lower South Boston rates,
thus putting him at a competitive disadvantage. "We're not exactly
thriving around here... just look at the recent reassessments. Please
keep in mind how this all affects future growth," Green urged.
Councilman Allen Stevens added "when we listened to the presentation
from the Authority we didn't hear anything about how this was going to
hit Halifax so hard. Please consider spreading the increases out."
And Councilman Jack Dunavant advised that this was an opportunity for
Authority members to make a historic decision that will affect this
county for the coming years. Reflecting on his 16 years of service on
the County's Industrial Development Authority he urged members to "get
away from thinking 'us vs. them' and think about the good of Halifax
County. Rate equalization is what we ask for," Dunavant said.
Halifax Resident Phil Hammond simply asked, "Why should we be charged
more than anyone else?" He said he had received about ten telephone
calls about the rate increases from his neighbors.
Mrs. Debbie Thompson, who along with her husband, Sam, operates The
Cozy Cottage on Main Street, Halifax said she just doesn't feel it's
fair to have to pay $59.00 bi-monthly just to flush the toilet in the
little business which is open only four days a week. "We have to
struggle to make ends meet," Thompson told Authority members.
A recently relocated Town resident Jim Byrd said he was a retired law
enforcement officer from Northern Virginia who had moved here.
"Everything here is more expensive and with real estate reassessments
going up. "Is this equalization? Have you looked that up in the
dictionary?"
Tuesday night's public hearing followed a specially called meeting of
Halifax Town Council on Monday evening during which time several
residents listened to Council express its concerns over the steep
increases in water and sewer rates for Town customers.
Council said they had not been alerted to those hikes until they
received printouts on Friday, November 30 showing the exact amount of
the increases in both sewer and water charges. "Why
would anyone want to move to Halifax when the rates are much lower in
South Boston?" asked Dunavant.
And Moore said he would not have voted to join the Authority had he
known the rates would increase so steeply. Mayor Leon Plaster said he
had asked for the special Monday night meeting to alert citizens to
what they are facing. He also said, that although he serves on the
Authority, he could not support the proposed rate schedule as it now
stands.
During Tuesday night's meeting the Authority's new executive director,
Willie Jones of Bedford, was introduced to the crowd by Bowman.