A draft image of what a sewer system holding tank could look like on Emory Valley Road east of the former Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center. The proposal could change based upon input from Oak Ridge City Council members. (Images courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
Oak Ridge officials are considering utility rate increases that could cost many residents another $6.87 per month, and they have also proposed building three large sewer system holding tanks, including two near busy roadways, in response to a federal order requiring the city to stop all sewer system overflows by September 2015.
Council could consider those proposals, as well as a request to buy three new fire trucks, during its Sept. 9 meeting.
Oak Ridge officials said the increases in water, wastewater, and electricity rates will pass on a 1.5 percent increase from power generator Tennessee Valley Authority, help cover work to comply with the sewer system order, pay for water plant and distribution system improvements, enable the implementation of new technologies that could help customers save money, and resolve cash flow issues. The rate changes could go into effect in January and be followed by additional increases in later years.
A draft image of a possible tank at Scarboro Road and South Illinois Avenue, as presented to City Council during a Monday work session. The Y-12 Federal Credit Union is in the background, partially obscured. The proposal is subject to change based upon input from Council.
The sewer system holding tanks could be built at the East Plant Pump Station on Cairo Road, on Emory Valley Road in central Oak Ridge, and at Scarboro Road and South Illinois Avenue at the main southern entrance to the city.
The three new fire engines would replace trucks that are 15 years old. Those vehicles would be used as reserves. The new trucks could be delivered in September 2014 and cost about $482,000 each. The city would pay cash for one and lease-purchase the other two.
Utility rate increases
Oak Ridge Public Works Director Gary Cinder said the water and wastewater increases would help pay for electrical, wiring, and pump and motor upgrades at the city’s water plant. Some of the pumps are 50-60 years old, he said.
The city’s water distribution system, which includes many components more than 70 years old, also needs ongoing maintenance, including to fire hydrants and water tanks.
“It continues to need a lot of attention to keep functioning,†Cinder said.
The city’s sewer system also requires more work than what it is required in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that requires Oak Ridge to repair its sewer system overflows, Cinder said. The non-EPA work includes lift station upgrades. Cinder said the city needs to pay cash for the ongoing maintenance and upgrades, rather than having to borrow more money.
The rate increases could total 15 percent in 2014 for wastewater and 10 percent for water, and then drop to 10 percent and 8 percent in 2015. They could taper off to increases between 6 percent and 4 percent from 2016 to 2019. The rate hikes would help build cash flow for more routine items, Cinder said.
“You’ve got to invest in the infrastructure to keep it working,†he said.
Information presented by consultant Chris Mitchell during a Monday night Oak Ridge City Council work session said the rate increases could cost the average resident who uses 2,000 gallons or less an extra $2.78 per month for sewer and another $1.35 for water. Cinder said about one-half of the city’s residential customers use 2,000 gallons or less per month.
The electrical rate increase includes the 1.5 percent TVA increase and a 1.2 percent distributor increase, a total 2.7 percent hike. The average residential customer could pay another $2.78 per month.
Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs said his department is trying to replenish its cash supply. Residential electrical consumption is down 9.5 percent in the past two years due to weather, and that’s where a majority of the Electric Department’s operating cash comes from, Suggs said.
“We’ve got to have cash to pay the bills,†he said. “We do not want to ever get in a position of paying our bills with debt.”
The Oak Ridge Electric Department is also trying to start a utility modernization program that would include a modern utility billing system flexible enough to meet TVA requirements, substation controls to control electrical loads and save money, and automated meters that would allow the city to participate in a TVA program introduced last week, keeping Oak Ridge competitive economically.
The rate increases to be considered by Council next month follow water and sewer rate increases approved by the Oak Ridge City Council in April 2012. Those hikes were implemented in two phases, the first in May 2012 and the second this past January.
The city staff said then that the increases were necessary to maintain adequate cash reserves and also pay for maintenance and capital improvement projects, including those required by the EPA order. Those increases were expected to be between 28 percent to 35 percent, depending upon a variety of factors, including the total number of gallons used. There was a minimum monthly increase of $7 for the first 2,000 gallons of water and sewer, but the increases were expected to be larger for bigger customers, the staff said then.
See Mitchell’s summary of the utility rate increases here.
Sewer system holding tanks
A possible location for a sewer system holding tank at Scarboro Road and South Illinois Avenue.
The three new sewer system holding tanks discussed this past Monday are also meant to help Oak Ridge comply with the EPA order. The tanks could store between one and two million gallons of a mix of storm water and sewer. Cinder has said the holding tanks are required at critical locations to detain extra water flows during heavy rains to comply with the EPA order.
“It should be noted that while technically the material is considered sewage, it is predominantly storm water that has leaked into the sewer system and exceeding its capacity to carry it to the treatment plant,†Cinder said in a recent memo.
The tanks could be emptied within a few days after a heavy rain as capacity in the downstream sewers becomes available.
Building the tanks and their associated pump stations could cost about $6.5 million, Cinder said. The U.S. Department of Energy could reimburse some of those expenses, and Cinder said the cost of the tanks is included in a recently announced $14 million state loan. Repaying that loan is part of the proposed rate increase, he said.
One two-million-gallon holding tank would be built on the east side of the former Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center on Emory Valley Center at Fairbanks Road. The Anderson County Commission has endorsed donating up to 2.05 acres of county-owned land at the site for the tank.
The East Plant tank would also be also be two million gallons, but it would be in an industrial area away from homes and busy roadways.
Council members raised questions about the visibility of the other two tanks, both of which could be close to busy roads. Those two tanks on Emory Valley Road and Scarboro Road at South Illinois Avenue, near the entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex, could be more than 100 feet wide and 18 to 27 feet high. Council members asked if the tanks could be moved back from the roads, located elsewhere, or possibly partially buried.
“It’s going to be an eyesore,” City Council member Charlie Hensley said of the Emory Valley Road tank. “To put something like that on a main road is not looking forward…aesthetically.”
On Thursday, Cinder said the city is preparing a response for Council members that will discuss some of the suggested sites that had been discussed earlier by staff but essentially dismissed. Cinder said moving the Emory Valley Road tank farther back could put it on wet land and shift it off a solid rock foundation, a move that could cost significantly more. Burying the tank would be difficult and more expensive because of all the underground rock. Other sites could also require bigger pumps and extra sewer lines, which might have to be placed underneath the four-lane Emory Valley Road, city officials said.
Cinder said the city staff and its consultant were trying to minimize costs and use city-owned property when possible. But they could consider buying Mullins Car Wash at Scarboro Road and South Illinois Avenue and moving the proposed one-million-gallon tank there back farther from the road, making it less visible but not affecting its operations. Still, there is already a significant drop-off from the Scarboro Road/Illinois Avenue intersection to the proposed tank location, Cinder said, and that drop-off could help hide the tank.
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said other techniques, such as berms, paintings, and landscaping, could also be used to reduce the perceived height of the tanks.
City officials hope to have a final design authorization by Sept. 9 and submit the project to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation by Jan. 10. The staff could tentatively award a contract in April 2014, and construction could start in late July and be complete by Sept. 1, 2015.
“The key here is the time schedule,†Cinder said.
Council member Chuck Hope asked Cinder and consultant Lamar Dunn to provide more information on the alternative locations and proposals, including costs, at the Sept. 9 City Council meeting.
Fire trucks
The new trucks discussed during Monday night’s work session have a range of features designed to help firefighters battle smaller fires, such as in brush and cars, and make their jobs safer by, among other things, reducing their need to climb on top of fire trucks to accomplish certain tasks like winding up hoses.
Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said the city hasn’t replaced a fire truck in 15 years. Money for the new trucks was part of Kerley’s budget presentation to the Oak Ridge City Council earlier this year.
Trina Baughn says
To clarify: Council will be asked to vote on both the 3rd & 4th round of water & sewer increases simultaneously, which would take effect January 2014 & January 2015.
When combined with the last two increases, the average user’s bill will have spiked 62% in just 34 months. Subsequently, should council adopt the fully proposed schedule through 2019, water rates will have increased an average of 87% and sewer rates by 110%. NONE of the water rate increases are related to the EPA administrative order.
Sam Hopwood says
Many of our neighbors have always said that Oak Ridge was full of “it” but with the new “holding tanks” there is no longer any doubt… 🙂
Let the creative artists in the middle and high schools paint murals on these “holding tanks.” Or possibly pictures of those council members who have sat on their rear ends for
lo these many years and allowed this to happen.
Thanks for the info Trina…….
Andrew Howe says
“The rate increases could total 15 percent in 2014 for wastewater and 10 percent for water, and then drop to 10 percent and 8 percent in 2015. They could taper off to increases between 6 percent and 4 percent from 2016 to 2019.”
So something like this?:
2014 – 15/10% increase
2015 – 10/8% increase
2016 thru 2019 – 6/4% increase
Yikes. That would add up.
The upgrades need to be done, obviously. A necessary expenditure.
But with such an enormous burden on the customers, I would have to say this is the time when a city should very seriously consider cutting all other non-necessary expenditures to lessen the burden as much as possible.
In other words, don’t force the missus to get a second job to pay for the new car, just refrain from going out to dinner and the movies as much as possible, until it’s paid off. It’s no fun to go without, but it usually beats the alternative.
Obviously a certain balance must be met, and I expect there are plans to put off spending on the non-necessary. I’d be curious to know what they may be.
I don’t think I’m going to be as happy seeing tax dollars spent on Secret City Fest, as totally great as it is, when we’re paying so much more for utilities at this time. Maybe residents and business owners could be given free passes and we hire entertainment that isn’t quite as nationwide as we’re used to. Throw as big a party, but buy Veuve-Clicquot instead of the ’69 Dom.
Budgets are tough, but there’s a certain element of creativity that I find appealing.
I do believe this mess has taught us all to keep our eyes on the ball though. Regular check-ups help prevent tooth decay, and all that.
🙂
johnhuotari says
Andy, I added a link to a summary slide on the proposed utility rate increases that gives the anticipated increases by year for sewer and water. The link to the slide is at the end of the utility rate increases section in the story above.
Andrew Howe says
Love you, John. Thanks!
One point that will also make this pill a bit easier to swallow is the understanding that our infrastructure was built to handle a larger population.
The population has shrunk, but of course the utilities infrastructure cannot. So we have less people to spread the costs among, overall.
At least that’s the story I’ve been told, although I’ve not seen hard data or metrics correlating residential/business properties to infrastructure from a “then and now” type perspective.
Dave Smith says
Okay, you keep making the same point but the writing is on the wall. You will cast your lone Nay vote based on the principle of the matter, but Council is going to approve the increases simply because the COR must pay for compliance with the EPA directives. My personal principle is that we’ve waited “110%” too long to stop running raw sewage into the river every time we get a heavy rain.
In the meantime, when are you going to give us an update on the substantiation of your allegations late last year regarding the mayor’s travel? You came on to Council with guns blazing. Seriously, where are the bodies? Inquiring Oak Ridgers want to know.
johnhuotari says
I wasn’t aware that you would be voting on rate increases for 2014 and 2015, but I haven’t seen the proposed ordinance yet. Thanks for that additional info.
Philip W Nipper says
What ever happened with my $2.00 a month fee that was going for the recycle points program? I remember that being a discussion item some months back about what to do with .77 cents once the points program was ended I want my 77 cents, or what it is, back. The other cost increases seem to me to be a required component of a combination of system upgrades and EPA mandated fixes. It has to get done and it costs what it costs. However, I would like to see the city charge more for those who really use mass quantities of water (Methodist MC and restaurants come to mind first) and charge a smaller usage fee for those of us who use 2 or 3 units or less per month. But in the end we all must pay for city services, maintenance and upgrades. C’est la vie…
johnhuotari says
Philip,
The last story I did on the recycling rewards in April estimated the savings from terminating the program at $0.84 per household per month. The city staff wanted to use the savings to offset an increase in the contract with garbage collector Waste Connections, which had been amended earlier to include an additional 654 homes at an extra $111,000 per year. Oak Ridge City Council member Anne Garcia Garland unsuccessfully proposed refunding the $0.84 per month to residents. Here’s a link to that story: http://oakridgetoday.com/2013/04/09/council-approves-protomet-tax-break-ends-recycling-rewards-program/
I’m not sure if any action has been taken since then.
Regarding the proposed rate increases, it’s my understanding that the percentage increase applied to commercial customers is the same as that applied to residential customers, but the amount that each customer’s bill could change depends upon usage. More information is available in a summary slide that I uploaded to the story above. The link is at the end of the section on utility rate increases.
Philip W Nipper says
Thanks for the update John. I still would like to have my $0.84 cents. It’s not just to be paying for a service that we no longer have. Anyway just my $0.02 cents worth!!
Andrew Howe says
For the past couple of years, I’ve used on average around only 1/3 a unit per month.
I agree that the rate scale doesn’t do a great job accommodating conservers like myself.
This will change for me in a month, as I’ll be having a new wife and kid under my roof, so it’s not a personal concern any longer to me. But still should be addressed in the name of fairness, I feel.
Dave Smith says
“Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said other techniques, such as berms,
paintings, and landscaping, could also be used to reduce the perceived
height of the tanks.”
Here’s a photo of a water storage tank adjacent to I-10 running through Las Cruces, New Mexico. There’s no need to hide this tank because it is enjoyable to look at. All the water storage tanks in Las Cruces, as well as quite a bit of their roadway infrastructure, is decorated with artistic representations of the area’s culture.
Let’s face it. There is a blatant disregard for public art and architectural beauty in Oak Ridge, viz., the flashing electronic signs and pre-fab metal buildings fronting the Turnpike. Maybe an artistic decoration of the proposed water tank could be the start of a new trend. What say we have a competition?
johnhuotari says
Interesting. Thanks for posting the photo.
Andrew Howe says
I hope to visit Australia during Christmas for a belated honeymoon. Perhaps we can drag Thom Green home with us.
He’s the guy who did the murals in the parking lot behind Dean’s in Jackson Sq, and did a very nice piece in Moondollars commemorating Oak Ridge.
I’m very much for a mural concept. Fun, and a great way to make things looks nice.
David A. Vudragovich says
Thank you to the person who said the population was down. I read how “Residential electrical consumption is down 9.5 percent in the past two years due to weather” and thought “so the consumers are getting charged more for not wasting/using as much electricity?”.
I understand businesses having fixed costs but because people turn off extra lights or purchase more energy friendly appliances, they should not be punished with higher energy charges.
Plus, I heard on some radio station earlier this year that TVA had extra energy produced due to all the rain. Do you think we will see any decrease in our bill? (their question, I am just repeating it)
On the eye sores, I regularly bring up my thoughts on how Oak Ridge looked when my wife and I first visited here in Spring 2010. Oak Ridge has come a long ways! And since Y12 is where people go for interviews, it is a big portion of our first impression! I am all in favor of having it look attractive!
John, thanks for the information!
johnhuotari says
You’re welcome, David.
Regarding electric rates, TVA recently approved a 1.5 percent increase. The public utility said it was the first increase in two years. Here’s a link to that story: http://oakridgetoday.com/2013/08/22/tva-board-approves-smaller-budget-1-5-percent-rate-increase/
David A. Vudragovich says
I will read the story but with KUB my electric bill is up almost 30% since I moved here in 2010 and I use the same amount of electricity. (Yes, I called and checked, no making up numbers)
johnhuotari says
Do you know why it has increased that much?
David A. Vudragovich says
I call in once a year and they sheepishly say (paraphrasing) you are using about the same amount of electricity, it just costs more. That is it.
KUB just distributes energy from TVA right?
johnhuotari says
Yes. I found a page on the KUB website that explains residential rates. It says more than 80 cents of every dollar paid to KUB goes to purchase TVA power. KUB keeps the rest, or just under 20 cents per dollar, to maintain and operate the system. Here’s the link: http://www.kub.org/wps/portal/Customers/Home/ResidentialCustomers/ResidentialRates/.
Now that makes me wonder what Oak Ridge’s margin is.
David A. Vudragovich says
I am glad you have the patience to look this stuff up! So while they approved the 1.5% increase…that is different from the monthly fluctuations or is KUB charged different than direct TVA customers? (cannot have a simple answer, just more questions 🙂
johnhuotari says
David,
I’m sorry, but I think that question is beyond my expertise. 🙂
David A. Vudragovich says
Not a problem John, I appreciate your input on the comments and willingness to share accurate info.