News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Monterey’s Water and Sewer Committee is proposing a myriad of different actions to offset the impact of the Perdue plant closure.
Committee Chair Bill Wiggins said the committee is recommending the town cancel two planned sewer projects, one to acquire sludge equipment and another to help with overflow, each costing some $700,000. Wiggins said the town should not spend time or money on the projects as the upgrades will be unnecessary with Perdue going away.
“What we’re trying to do is look at the, what happened to us financially with the disappearance of Perdue, a significant partner with us and our water plant and our sewer plant,” Wiggins said. “And there’s money going to be disappearing and we’re trying to compensate for that as best we can.”
Wiggins said the committee also proposed reducing the minimum water usage for all the town’s customers from two thousand gallons to one thousand. Wiggins said all the committee’s different recommendations will be brought to the next aldermen meeting with requests for immediate approval or action as each item requires.
“That was actually in the last study we had but the board took no action on it,” Wiggins said. “But it’s imperative now that we address that.”
Wiggins said the committee also wants to reach out to the comptroller’s office to request permission to remove a part of the wastewater plant’s capacity. Wiggins said the plant is designed so that a portion of it can be shut down to save significant amounts of money on chemicals at both the water and wastewater treatment plants.
“We’re going to speak with our auditor and see about the possibilities of reducing depreciation on our system to give some financial relief there,” Wiggins said.
Wiggins said the committee also wants to reroute funding from the sludge project towards installing a sewer lift station at I-40’s Exit 300. Wiggins said there are three properties in the area that are valuable and have received inquiries in the past, but nothing has be done with them because of the lack of sewer systems.
“Those could be really, really profitable for the town of Monterey so we want to make that attractive,” Wiggins said. “We’ve just got to be aggressive on that front.”
Wiggins said the committee instructed Mayor Alex Garcia to meet with the Catoosa Utility District and attempt to reinvigorate an old deal between the town and the district. Wiggins said the agreement says the utility district will pump up to 275,000 gallons per day at a given rate.
“They haven’t been pumping for a while and we’re trying to see if they are in a position where they could come back online and start pulling water from Monterey,” Wiggins said. “We need customers. We need to sell that water and we’ve got it.”
Wiggins said the committee also sees the need to hire an external company for a new water rate study post-Perdue. Wiggins said the town’s last study is from several years ago and a new study will allow the town a stronger understanding of its position without Perdue.
