Daniel Prince
Water and sewer fees will increase for the town's customers
The Carlisle Town Council met for their regular monthly meeting Tuesday night. Nearly all of the discussion centered around the meeting the council had with the city, county, engineers, and others to discuss the water and wastewater feasibility study. A finalized draft of the study is due in mid-October, so they emphasized that the town needed to draft a plan of action regarding the future water and sewer rates. This includes a schedule of rate increases for water and sewer leading up to the implementation of city control of the town’s wastewater system in 2023. Mayor Mary Ferguson-Glenn stated that some parts of the draft study were accurate regarding the town’s utilities, and other parts were inaccurate, particularly concerning the town’s water system. At the meeting, Glenn said she noted several things that were inaccurate, including a report that the town had no utility employees. Glenn said the town employs two certified water operators. She was asked to provide documentation proving the points of contention that she made, which also was to include an itemized list of water system work and improvements recently done, including costs and where the money came from to cover those costs, whether from the town’s general fund budget, water and sewer budget, American Rescue Plan Act funds, or grant funds.
Glenn stated that the main driving force for the study was the state Rural Infrastructure Authority. They requested the study be completed to assess both Lockhart’s and Carlisle’s water and wastewater systems and to make a plan of action to make each system viable before any more grant funding would be given. The draft of the study stated that the town is not charging enough money for its water system to maintain long-term viability.
Carlisle Town Council unanimously passed a motion to do all it can to retain ownership of the town’s water system. Later in the meeting, they unanimously passed a motion approving the draft of the current and proposed water and sanitation fees. Here is some of what Mayor Glenn had to say about the process:
(audio below story)
WBCU News is working to get a copy of the fee schedule and will bring you that information when we receive it. We’ll have more news from the meeting in tomorrow’s newscast.