OUDoc
3/27/2006, 09:51 AM
Or they could pay Picasso to stay a while.
To start treating human waste, Islamorada faces the distasteful prospect of buying human waste.
All possible action should be taken to avoid such a purchase, Village Council members agreed Thursday.
"To have to obtain sewage seems embarrassing", said Councilman Chris Sante, who broached the topic.
A pun-filled conversation ensued, with admonitions such as: “Avoid stepping in it.” Van Cadenhead, a civic activist who composes songs about what he sees as village missteps, chortled loudly.
But the topic is a serious one, with Islamorada's first municipal sewer treatment center scheduled to become active in early May.
The problem is that not enough residents of north Plantation Key - the area covered by the project - have hooked into the sewer system to get the system “operating and stabilized.”
“It's a brand-new plant,” Sante said. “When it first gets on line is the hardest time because there's no flow.”
In a worst-case scenario, he cautioned, Islamorada could wind up paying to import sewage so operators can hit the plant's “on” switch.
Sante urged Islamorada to come up with a rebate or group-discount incentive to encourage residents to complete the hookup to their residences “so we don't have to buy sewage.”
“If we wind up buying sewage, residents as well as Mr. Cadenhead, are going to tear us up,” Councilman Michael Reckwerdt said. “I don't want to do that.”
Councilwoman Patty Schmidt worried that any system to offer discounts should be available to all property owners mandated to hook into the sewer system.
Village Manager Gary Word expressed “reservations” about the village getting involved in a connection program that “can be handled by the private sector.”
In public comment, Deb Gillis said the delay in connecting to the network was caused by significantly higher than expected costs - a problem that can be expected elsewhere as Islamorada tries to meet the 2010 deadline for wastewater treatment.
Reaching no firm conclusions, council members asked staff to consider incentives or other methods to speed the pace of hookups.
http://www.keynoter.com/articles/2006/03/24/news/news09.txt
To start treating human waste, Islamorada faces the distasteful prospect of buying human waste.
All possible action should be taken to avoid such a purchase, Village Council members agreed Thursday.
"To have to obtain sewage seems embarrassing", said Councilman Chris Sante, who broached the topic.
A pun-filled conversation ensued, with admonitions such as: “Avoid stepping in it.” Van Cadenhead, a civic activist who composes songs about what he sees as village missteps, chortled loudly.
But the topic is a serious one, with Islamorada's first municipal sewer treatment center scheduled to become active in early May.
The problem is that not enough residents of north Plantation Key - the area covered by the project - have hooked into the sewer system to get the system “operating and stabilized.”
“It's a brand-new plant,” Sante said. “When it first gets on line is the hardest time because there's no flow.”
In a worst-case scenario, he cautioned, Islamorada could wind up paying to import sewage so operators can hit the plant's “on” switch.
Sante urged Islamorada to come up with a rebate or group-discount incentive to encourage residents to complete the hookup to their residences “so we don't have to buy sewage.”
“If we wind up buying sewage, residents as well as Mr. Cadenhead, are going to tear us up,” Councilman Michael Reckwerdt said. “I don't want to do that.”
Councilwoman Patty Schmidt worried that any system to offer discounts should be available to all property owners mandated to hook into the sewer system.
Village Manager Gary Word expressed “reservations” about the village getting involved in a connection program that “can be handled by the private sector.”
In public comment, Deb Gillis said the delay in connecting to the network was caused by significantly higher than expected costs - a problem that can be expected elsewhere as Islamorada tries to meet the 2010 deadline for wastewater treatment.
Reaching no firm conclusions, council members asked staff to consider incentives or other methods to speed the pace of hookups.
http://www.keynoter.com/articles/2006/03/24/news/news09.txt