Voters to decide on sewer improvement proposal Aug 5

Sunday, August 3, 2003

Most of Nevada's sanitary sewer system was built about 50 years ago and like most things that have been in continuous use for 50 years is need of repair. On August 5, Nevada voters are being asked two questions: first, to renew the city's one-half cent capital improvement sales tax that paid for a new water treatment plant and constructing new water mains, to make needed improvements to the city's sewer treatment plant and the sewer lines, and second, to approve issuing $5.2 million in sewer bonds. The sales tax, which would be in force for 20 years, plus increases in the sewer tax, would repay the $5.2 million in sewer bonds to cover the $3.67 million of improvements at the sewer treatment plant and about $1.5 million for lining existing sewer lines. Revenue from the sales tax and the sewer tax will also cover the cost of an additional $10 to $15 million for construction of new sewer mains. State law prohibits governments from borrowing money without voter approval. At the same time the city's water rates will drop as promised, however, with the increase in sewer tax that total cost for water and sewer will remain about same. Craig Hubler, city manager, said that without the sales tax, the city would have to triple the current sewer tax, which would be a hardship on people on fixed incomes. The city council has been talking about doing this for three years, he said. "The sewer system is not really that bad for something 50 years old," Hubler said. However, it is somewhat outdated, he added. Age has also taken it toll on the sewer mains that were built of three-foot long sections of clay tile and the man-holes that were built with brick walls. The small leaks that are normal in sewer systems have, over time, become large leaks. This allows water to enter the sewers during times of heavy rainfall, which overloads the capacity of the sewage treatment plant. That, in turn, causes a mixture of rainwater and raw sewage to back up into basements and spew from manholes with enough force to lift the heavy metal covers eight to 10 inches above the ground. During periods of heavy rain, the flow in the sewer mains increases to between 13 and 17 times above the normal flow and that overloads the sewer treatment plant causing the sewers to backup. Sometimes the treatment plant is overwhelmed and it overflows, dumping untreated sewage into area rivers. "We are putting raw sewage into streets and people's backyards, leaving toilet paper to dry in the sun," Hubler said. Hubler said that the city has known about the problem for many years, and if it is not cured soon, Nevada can be fined or ultimately be prohibited from making any new connections to the sewers, which will stop any new construction. Next spring the bonds that paid for the city water treatment plant and the construction of new water lines will be paid off and the one-half cent sales tax that paid off the bonds will end. In May, the city council voted unanimously to ask the voters to renew the that tax to cover improvements to the sewer system that include doubling the peak capacity of the treatment plant, lining many of the existing sewer lines and constructing new lines where needed. Hubler said the city would spend several hundred thousand dollars annually for the next 20 years on sewer construction. The plan is to take the city's water construction crews and have them rebuild much of the sewer system, offering an extension of jobs that would otherwise end when water construction ends. This will enable the city to stretch the amount of work that can be done with the available money, just as was done with the water lines, Hubler said. The one-half cent sales tax will generate about $600,000 annually and Hubler said that the city spend closer to $700,000 annually on the sewers, with the balance coming from the sewer tax. Hubler said that a lot of houses in Nevada do not have a direct connection to the city's sewer mains, and part of this project will be to construct new sewer mains in these areas. If the homeowners will give the city an easement to build a new sewer main across their property -- usually in the backyard -- the city will let the homeowner connect to the new main without a hookup charge. Hubler said that there might be some grant funds to help low-income people with the expense of hiring a plumber to run the line from the house to the new sewer main. The city will also be willing to extend the sewer mains to new housing developments during the first five years of the project to help spur new housing construction, he said. "There haven't been many homes built in Nevada in the last 20 years," he said. Hubler said that he is concerned about the small voter turnout for an August election. Only about 40 percent of people are registered to vote and then only about 15 percent of those will vote Tuesday, he said. This lets a few hundred people decide what will happen. That makes the outcome uncertain, he said. "Hopefully the people who will vote know what this means for Nevada," Hubler said. "We're proud of our record. We did what we said we would do with the water and transportation taxes. The people are pleased with what we did," he said. "The city honored its commitment," Hubler said.

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