ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & INFORMATION
If you would like to receive information & updates on this, and other Cherokee County issue, please send email to ccrg@tds.net. We will send you an email to remind you of the meeting, and we will let you know the final outcome once EPD announces their decision. We also have information posted on www.savecherokee.net.
We are not opposed to Growth. We support growth that follows our land use plan which allows predictability for planning and budgeting in order to provide the necessary infrastructure to support new development.
We are not opposed to sewer; however we oppose this plant for the following reasons:
(All information was obtained from open records requests to EPD, and CCWSA including the authority’s financial statements.):
1. Increased Taxes: The Land Use Plan designates this area as Rural, Agricultural, and Country Estates. Cherokee County taxes would be raised to fund the infrastructure to support these unplanned projects.
2. Use of public money to increase the profit of special interest groups: The 2007 Financial Report of Cherokee Water and Sewerage Authority specifically states that new sewage treatment plants are planned to give landowners the option of developing their property at higher densities. Citizens should not fund providing more development options to landowners.
3. Increased Water & Sewer Rates: We are opposed to the construction of $25 million in unnecessary infrastructure that would cost Cherokee citizens continued increases in water and sewer rates as well as payments for debt service. Cherokee Water and Sewerage have a track record of increasing rates far beyond need to cover expenses in order to fund infrastructure for developers. Current bond debt is 196.3 MILLION DOLLARS, for which we will pay an additional 200.9 MILLION DOLLARS in interest charges.
A new $25 million plant will increase debt and interest even more.
For years 2006 and 2007 we received a total increase of 20.2% for water usage.
For years 2006 and 2007 we received a total increase of 28.3% for wastewater usage.
4. Non-elected CCWSA board members: They are not governed by our elected Board of Commissioners. Cherokee consumers are not able to elect the people who sit on the board of directors with the exception of our County Commission Chairman. This non-elected board is able to make decisions that affect the future of our County and we, as consumers have no recourse except to pick up the bill. The non-elected board of Cherokee Water & Sewerage Authority has authorized more debt than Cherokee County and all cities combined. Their plans to add two additional sewer plants would increase their debt to approximately 286.3 MILLION DOLLARS. This is a debt paid by every water & sewer user in the County.
5. Raw Sewerage Spills: In 2006, CCWSA had 13 reported incidents of spills which sent 186,000 gallons of raw sewage to the Etowah River and Lake Allatoona. This equates to 7.8 gallons of raw sewerage dumped into our lake from each Cherokee home connected to sewer. As CCWSA is only required to report to EPD when they have spills of raw sewage over 10,000 gallons – the actual total of raw sewage spills is most likely far greater.
6. A Future with all of Cherokee County blanketed with unreliable sewer pipes:
Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) 12/11/06: Sewerage spills plague Dekalb County, - Old pipes cited as problem. Dekalb County has received one of the largest fines ever imposed by the state for spilling raw sewerage more than two hundred times into rivers and streams from clogged and broken pipes and equipment failures. The worst was a 10 MILLION-GALLON SPILL directly into South River.
AJC 2/07/07: Twelve thousand gallons of raw sewerage flowed into a tributary of John’s Creek Wednesday. Nelson, wearing gloves to the elbow and throw away shoes, tiptoed through sewerage to pick up the breathtaking nastiness from a manhole that had overflowed in her backyard in John’s Creek. “It was gross, absolutely”, she said. “There was everything that goes in the toilet.”
AJC 2/06/08: Atlantans voted to extend an existing sales tax to pay a portion of the $3.9 BILLION to overhaul the city’s aging sewer system.
7. We object to the construction of $25 million in unnecessary infrastructure when we do not have water resource infrastructure to provide adequate water to the citizens who are here or to protect our economy.
Neither Septic nor Sewer is beneficial to the environment if not properly maintained. Sewer is needed in the cities and commercial areas where higher densities are planned, but sewer systems is expensive to install and costly to maintain. Septic tanks return water to tributaries slowly. Sewer systems return the water faster enabling it to be reused to fuel additional growth. This comes at a cost of increased chemical treatment. The cost to all citizens will be inconceivable should this entire county become blanketed with sewer pipes.
The cost to install and maintain a septic tank is a fraction of that of Sewer. Septic tanks offer additional benefits to our environment. There are many studies being conducted which show septic tanks return water slowly to tributaries keeping streams and rivers flowing in times of low rainfall.
8. There is mounting evidence that smaller, less costly, decentralized wastewater treatment systems are offer superior benefits to the community. From the Jan./Feb.2008 Issue of Onsite Water Management: “Over the last half-century, however, economics, demographics, technology, and a clearer understanding of costs and benefits of various wastewater management techniques are pointing modern-day designers and engineers away from the traditional sewer-and-manhole infrastructure of the past 200 years (based on the ancient traditions mentioned above) toward smaller, onsite, clustered, decentralized systems that leave much smaller footprints.” To read more visit: http://www.mswmanagement.com/ow_0801_decentralized.html
THIS EFFECTS EVERY CITIZEN IN CHEROKEE COUNTY: Those not on Sewer pay for a portion of the costs of sewer treatment in their water usage rates. We all pay County property taxes and we will all share in the cost to provide the needed infrastructure to support unplanned growth.
Please help us spread the word to your friends and neighbors. We can make a difference.