Columbia County, FL (Posted January 9,
2010)
by City Manager Wendell Johnson and
staff
From City Manager Wendell Johnson
Water/Sewer Rate Study:
At the year's first City Council meeting the Council
approved the “Water, Wastewater and Reclaimed Water Rate
Study.” The City Attorney and Staff are proceeding with
the legislative and public notice activity. The
implementation process should take 90-120 days.
Here is a recap of the Council’s action:
Karen Mizer, president of the Columbia County Landlord’s
Assoc. peppered the City Manager and the Council with questions
during the Jan. 4th Counsel meeting. After the meeting
Ms. Mizer told the Observer, "It was a long time coming
and I think the city acted in the best interest of the
of all the residents of the city and the county by
eliminating the availability fee.
a. Eliminate
Service Availability Charge.
b. Assess a
Base Charge for active customers; no Base Charge
assessment to inactive customers.
c. Establish
water and waste water rates to recoup revenue losses
estimated to be $420,000 from inactive customers;
establish reclaimed water rate at volumetric charge of
63 cents per 1,000 gallons.
d. Adopt the American Water
Works Association methodology and meter-size increments,
i.e., the Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) standard
unit of measure.
Rates for the water and sewer systems are increasing
for the following reasons:
a.
Recover “increased costs” for operations and maintenance
of the utility.
b.
Provide additional funds required to finance planned
capital improvements of the proposed Kicklighter Road
Waste Water Treatment Plant ("WWTP") and upgrades to
existing St. Margaret’s Street WWTP.
c.
Provide revenue to off-set losses due to the elimination
of the Availability Charge.
Annual Employee Awards Banquet
Award nominations for 2009 will be accepted through
January 10, 2010. The categories are: 1)
Dedication; 2) Achievement; 3) Supervisor and 4)
Outstanding Employee, which is the highest award.
The awards banquet will be held on January 29th at the
Country Club at Lake City from 7:00pm.to 11:00pm.
North Florida Broadband Authority ("NFBA")
The NFBA Board of Directors met on January 6, 2010 in
Live Oak. The meeting was productive.
The Board approved submission of the Request for
Qualifications ("RFQ") for a Project Manager/Engineer/Construction Manager for the anticipated
$32,000,000 project. The RFQ Review and Selection
Committee members were also appointed by the Board.
The Broadband Grant Consultant, Government Services
Group, advised that the status of the grant award would
be provided from the National Communications and
Information Administration by January 15, 2010. If
approved, the Project RFQ will be immediately published.
The NFBA consists of 14 northern Florida counties in
the region and 8 cities. If approved and completed, the
grant project will provide the first and only open,
ubiquitous, "Middle Mile" access to broadband Internet
services for both private entities and public
institutions in the underserved areas of northern
Florida.
This area is composed of a fourteen county Rural Area
of Critical Economic Concern which is known as the
RACEC. It is deemed by the Governor as a priority for
broadband.
The NFBA will deliver up to 1,000 times the existing
capacity to the RACEC within three years.
The City Staff Report is available in pdf format
here.
