The runup to the Richmond Glen / Serenity Ranch exchange
At Tuesday's meeting, David Schrumm started laying out a sequence of events that covered the runup to the discussion (soon-to-be vote) on the proposed Richmond Glen / Serenity Ranch development between Wiese Road and Buckland Drive. I touched on some of the events he mentioned in this post. But here's the video of the February 13, 2008 meeting in which the TM offers comments (the comments appear between 1:13:30 and 1:14:30):
I realize that as a member of the Council, I should've asked more questions. So I take part of the blame for not having advocated for the Town to address OPM. But also from my perspective, if an issue of significance arises such as this... I wouldn't say:
I don't think that there's anything that we have to do as a community at this point... but I did want to make you aware of the fact that this petition is pending before the Office of Policy and Management... ok... we can just let it sit and take its natural course.
Instead, I'd tell my boss:
There's a potentially big issue coming down the pike. Can I have ten or fifteen minutes to explain the history and the potential future?
And as I think about this more and more... it's rather difficult for me to believe that this is yet another example of staff wanting to drive policy through inaction. I doubt this was a priority for staff. I'm thinking that this inaction may have been suggested by someone else - someone above staff's paygrade. So I have to ask the question:
Cui bono?
Hmmm... I wonder?
Tim White
11 comments:
He was a congressman from California before he died, right?
sure... "you've got it babe."
I'm tired of paying taxes for the sewer, plant, pump stations and everything else that goes with it. And, I don't want to pay for any future expansions of the sewage plant. I have a septic tank that I had to pay for myselt and have to maintain myself.
Right now it would cost a person anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 to install a new septic tank.
New people or developers should be paying the cost of capacity they take of the sewer plant etc. What's wrong with this town government that simply gives developers a free ride, oh I'm sorry, Brodach will give us $10 to put 40 units?
Any council person that votes for this should definitely move on.
Some people want to charge students activity fees and at the same time are willing to give rich developers anything they want, at the taxpayer's expense.
Don't kid yourself, the money these developers save, goes right in their pocket and allows them to sue the town for anything they want.
15,000 - 20,000 for a septic system? Where did you get that number? I did mine last summer for $3500
At $3500 for a septic system it's a good bet the house is small, only a couple of bedrooms and the land associated with the system was not in need of any modification. Tank, leach fields and distribution boxes etc along with fill and landscaping would cost a bundle in this area of the state for a modern home in the 2500 or larger sq ft range.
Even something as simple as delivery of a couple of truck loads of decorative mulch and someone to spread it around could run you a grand if you don't get multiple quotes.
" I did mine last summer for $3500"
So, at $3,500 a tank,you think Brodach could do 40 septic tanks and leach fields for $140,000?
If that's the case, he should save the lawyer costs and just go for the 40 tanks.
Would they be connected in series or in parallel.
"I did mine last summer for $3500"
You want the builder telling potential buyers they have the new and improved design, complete with old fashioned, high maintenance septic tanks?
Bet they'd have to sell each unit for less if they can't offer sewers and tax revenues to the town would therefore be lower too.
I dont care what the builder says about the septic/sewer system. Consider pricing a job before stating dollar amounts. I dont think it was ever a consideration to put septic in the development. All I want is the town to require the developer to tell buyers that there are working farms surrounding the development and that there can be sounds and/or odors coming at all times of the day and night. These would be things that the residents would have to live with and there would be no action on the towns part to stop it.
With money so tight, the town should have a onetime connect charge for all new construction that represents a replacement cost of the capacity of the sewage plant for each new unit. This money would go into a special fund to pay for future expansions and improvements.
Existing home units with failed septic tanks would pay a much lower amount because those homeowner's taxes were used for the treatment plant.
"With money so tight, the town should have a onetime connect charge for all new construction "
Does this mean that if someone in town has a lot and that they build a house on the lot they now pay only a nominal, small hookup fee to connect to town sewers?
When a developer builds tract housing in town now, say anywhere from 3 or 4 houses to maybe a dozen or more is the builder assessed hundreds of dollars per hook up or is the builder made to pay the many thousands of dollars of town costs going forward that even a single new hook up represents?
Could the $315 annual sewer fee be smaller if new construction hook ups were charged more for initially connecting?
A fee of $10 for hooking up 40 units seems almost criminal if that is all Richmond Glenn pays up front to the local taxing authority.
TRhe Office of Policy and Management could not have been any clearer when they said, "OPM recommends that the Committee not approve the Serenity Ranch, LLC request for an interim change for reasons cited above."
How can the council approve granting Brodach an easment that will allow the hookup of 40 units to Sewer system that is already near capacity? And, to allow this to happen for $10? This is really a redistribution of the wealth only, this is from the taxpayers to developers. How can this town continue to give away their hard earned tax dollars to enrich well connected developers?
Here is just another case where Altieri just doesn't care about spending taxpayer's money for special interests.
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