According to the AJC, City of Woodstock residents “pay double what their Cherokee County neighbors pay in water and sewer fees because of rising prices, falling city revenue and new expenses.”
Why?
“Costs are high because the city buys water from the Cherokee and Cobb county systems, which together raised rates a total of three times since 2008. The raises ranged from 11 percent to 35 percent.
Woodstock is also paying off loans for expanding sewer lines and building a sewer treatment plant, and there are unexpected costs to replace high-tech water filters at the plant. The filters must be replaced more often, at $1,200 each, because the city cut out a treatment step when building the plant five years ago in an effort to save money. (The cost to replace or rebuild filters since 2006 has been $340,000.) They got bad advice from a former city manager, Henriques said.”
Is there a solution planned?
“City Manager Jeff Moon said the city is considering options, such as selling its treatment plant to the Cherokee or Cobb system and joining them. The day of the little, independent water and sewer system is over, especially with the pressures over water usage and availability filtering down from state and national levels, he said.
“The other option is a rate increase,” Moon said.”
What about more ‘other’ options?
I suggest Woodstock consider just giving it’s treatment plant away. It’s obviously not a money-maker for the city (or they wouldn’t have to raise prices to keep it operating). Granted, it would be nice to get some money for the plant and also have Cobb or Cherokee manage the system at a lower cost to the residents of Woodstock. But let’s not get greedy in this time of need.
Or perhaps some new growth into the city will spread the costs to more people. Did I just suggest the city to grow in a down time? Yes, in fact…
Pingback: John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods to begin construction on new homes in Woodstock Downtown