Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet Council Oks Ordinances

An ordinance passed by the Emmet City Council Thursday night, March, 12, will allow the city to get the city's water project underway.

However, the council also voted to increase the water rates for users of the city's water system in order to be eligible for the funding necessary for the water project.

The bond for the project is $382,500, which must be paid back over a span of 40 years. The remainder of the $828,000 project comes from a grant the city was approved for.

According to Emmet Mayor Chuck Otwell, the bond will be financed at 5.125 percent, but can be changed should the city find a lower interest rate. And, he informed the council, the city can issue temporary bonds if it desires, so the work can begin promptly.

However, Otwell suggested the city not do this, because the rates for temporary bonds tend to be higher.

Now, though, Emmet can begin the process of letting bids for the project such as finding a contractor to do the required work.

But, before this is done, the city must first get all easements in hand. Otwell said some residents have been reluctant to sign their easements. This means the city will have to literally purchase the property in question, after having the land appraised.

Emmet resident Tom Hand, who was present at the meeting, asked if the council had seen a copy of the ordinance before the meeting. He suggested the aldermen have copies and read the ordinance thoroughly as they represent the people of Emmet and need to understand the ramifications of what they're doing.

Otwell said the bond will have to be paid back with money generated from Emmet's water and sewer system, with no other city monies allowed to be used to retire this debt.

Once the council had heard the bond ordinance, attorney Barry Barber said the rate increase ordinance had to be read and approved before the bond issue could be passed.

The water rates, for residential customers, will be raised to $9 for the first 1,000 gallons used. For the next 4,000 gallons, the rates will go up $3, and for those who use more than 10,000 gallons of water per month, their rates will increase $1.50 per 1,000 gallons.

Otwell said this should raise the minimum bill between $7 and $9.

Rates for commercial customers were not discussed at the meeting.

However, Otwell said, the city has been assured the fire protection rate will drop a full measure. This, should cause the fire insurance rates for homeowners to also fall somewhat.

Since 1991, he said, the city has refused to raise the water rates as requested by the state. Otwell said he had been told the city's water rates were well below normal for a city of Emmet's size and needed to be increased.

With this increase, though, the city should be more in-line with the norm.

Otwell said when the original plans for the water system were discussed the city had 224 customers. The rate increase was based on this number. But, he continued, since then the city has added another 24 customers, bringing the total to 248.

Because of this, he informed the council, it may be possible to have the rate structure refigured and get the rates lowered somewhat.

The grant for the water project was approved on March 27, 1997.

A mock check was presented to the council by Theodore Eldridge, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grant was for $445,500, with the bond being $382,500, to make up the $828,000.

At the time, Otwell told the people of Emmet they shouldn't be in a hurry to see results as the project would take more than a year to complete.

The purpose of the project is two-fold. First, it is to deliver a proper volume and quality of water to the people of Emmet in a sanitary manner; and to increase the size of water pipes and install fire hydrants to help decrease the insurance rates paid by the citizenry of the city for fire protection.

Christian and Ward of Texarkana will do the engineering work for the project.

According to Earl Christian, the construction will be done using PVC pipe to replace the existing water lines.

The one-inch pipes will be replaced with four-inch pipes, with the smallest pipe to be used in the project to be three-inches in diameter.

The project, Christian said, will use about nine miles of pipe, with about 50 hydrants being installed. Once work actually begins, he said, it should take about a year to complete.

But, the time it takes to finish the job will depend heavily on weather conditions and the signing of the easements.

There will be no new wells dug for the project and no new water tanks constructed. A master meter will be installed, though, with a standby generator added for times of power outage.

The city's water system was originally installed in 1960. Since this time, little, other than routine repairs, has been done.

Otwell pointed out the contracts can't be let until all easements have been procured "It looks like we'll have to pay some people," he said. "This will hold us up until the property is appraised."