On the clock

ADEM issues moratorium on new sewer tie-ons in Hanceville; move kills new construction

By Benjamin Bullard The Cullman Times

HANCEVILLE — The clock is ticking for Hanceville to respond to a compliance order issued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) threatening stiff penalties if the city’s sewer plant does not begin treating wastewater at a rate deemed acceptable by the regulatory agency.

The issue dominated talk at Thursday’s city council meeting, as Mayor Kenneth Nail and council members discussed possible funding solutions to help pay for as much as $4 million in upgrades necessary to achieve that goal within an ADEM-mandated four-year timeline.

ADEM issued a moratorium on new sewer tie-ons in the city, a move that effectively kills new building construction of any type. Only projects that already hold building permits will be allowed until the moratorium is resolved.

While immediate fixes are too massive in scale to be feasible, the city is racing against a 30-day deadline to send a letter to ADEM outlining a four-year plan to bring the system into compliance.

If the city cannot demonstrate evidence of a workable plan to address sewage overflow and infiltration problems within the 30 days, it faces an ever-worsening barrage of fines that could culminate with the treatment plant becoming subject to a federally-mandated takeover.

Officials say that scenario would all but guarantee skyrocketing sewer bills for the city’s 1100 individual customers.

“We are in a dire situation with the sewer,” said Nail to a crowded room of concerned residents Thursday night. “If we don’t do something, and do it quick, we may be under the control of a federal judge. I want to ask each and every one of you to rack your brains to help us come up with ways this city can raise the revenue needed to pay for these fixes.”

Outside the 30-day deadline, ADEM could begin imposing fines for every instance of a violation at overflow points throughout the city. For the first 30 days during which the city fails to meet compliance guidelines, it could face a $100 fine per manhole each day. That total increases to $200 after 60 days, and ultimately as much as $300 per day thereafter. 

“Yesterday, we had 14 manholes running over, which is a violation,” said council member Charles Wilson, who also serves on the water and sewer board. “If these fines were already in place, we would have been fined $1,400 just for yesterday. Or $2,800. Or $4,200 - depending on which period the violation occurred.”

Nail said the city should not rely solely on rate increases to help fund infrastructural upgrades.

“We have a number of people living in Hanceville who are below the poverty line, and they simply can’t afford to pay for sewer service if the rates get up as high as it would take to pay for this,” he said. “But you can bet that, if a federal judge orders a takeover for our sewer system, that judge is not going to care how high our sewer rates are, even if they’re $90 a month. We have got to find a more equitable source of funding on this.”

One such source could be an increase in city sales tax by a half-cent or even a penny, if an upcoming consultation with revenue officials reveals that such a measure would sufficiently help fund the needed upgrades.

“If we go up on sales taxes, the people of this city are going to want to string us up,” said Nail. “It’s not something we want to do. Until we get some solid figures from the revenue folks, it may not even be what we have to do. But it would be a way to keep from putting the entire burden on our customers.”

The water board is in the process of negotiating with a number of possible outside sources to help offset more than $4 million in sewage system upgrades, but each source operates on its own timeline. And the assistance isn’t guaranteed.

The chief hope for funding would be a federal appropriations item that could trim Hanceville’s commitment to $1.8 million. Smaller grants could further narrow that total to around $1.3 million. But the city cannot operate under the assumption that any of those funds will become available, said Nail.

“If the appropriations money doesn’t come through this fall, we’re going to have to go with low-interest loans to pay for this whole thing ourselves,” he said. “And we need to spend a little now to show ADEM, in the meantime, that we are serious about working on this problem.”



* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 270.

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