November 19, 2013 - Workshop
The Town of Glen St. Mary held a Workshop on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 7:13 P.M. at the Town Hall with Council Members Davis, Foster, Reneau, and Rhynehardt present. Mayor Padgett presided over the workshop.
The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the ideas of getting gravity sewer to the North side of town. Mayor Padgett had information packets ready for Council.
Mayor Padgett discussed the first page showing the fees based on the new water and sewer tap fee ordinance. The plumber hook up expense is a rough estimate from a plumber to run the lines. Councilman Foster pointed out this sheet does not address the demolishing and filling in the septic tank.
The second page reflects information Mayor Padgett received from the grant coordinator. She said the Town may not get 65 residents this time around. Last grant cycle covered about 2/3 of the residents. The grant would pay the capacity fee and run the lines to the home.
With the last grant cycle we received, the Town got one point for every $5,000 pledged. They have redone the points system since then. The new point system gives one point per $1,000 pledged. So if the Town pledged the tap fee of $600, it would be approximately $27,000 and would give the highest points of 25. It would be no expense to the Town or the low to moderate income residents.
The next page shows the current application scoring. Mayor Padgett explained Item #4. The current engineer gave a price of $52,000. Our Town Attorney has said we can use capacity fees for engineering. The new Dollar General has not been using the water originally estimated so we may have to give part of the capacity fees. There is no money to be made on sewer. What we receive will be paid to the City of Macclenny.
The last four pages show the lowest funded points in the past three years. We would be close to being funded, but they recently changed how they score applications so this may not be a good way to compare.
Mayor Padgett feels the Town should only apply with leverage, but wait on the readiness to proceed. Mayor Padgett asked if Council wants to try for a grant, pledging the tap fees for the low to moderate homes would bring the points to 564. Council doesn’t feel the Town has the money in the budget for readiness to proceed.
Mayor Padgett spoke with another engineer. They told her of another option for sewer, which is neither gravity nor force main. The engineer says there is a system that can be installed at the property line of each home. He told Mayor Padgett he could bring one out and show us what it is and how it works. It is cheaper to run force mains, but will be more costly later. Council agreed the Town should stick with the gravity flow idea.
The workshop was adjourned at 7:29 P.M.