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Bayfield sanitation moving forward
3/23/2007 By: Carole McWilliams and Melanie Brubaker Mazur
Following up on their intent announced earlier, the Bayfield Sanitation District Board approved higher tap fees and monthly rates at their Wednesday meeting.
They also approved a cost-sharing and tap fee rebate incentive program to help commercial customers with high sewer loading to fix their situations and help the district stay within state permit load limits.
The board approved raising the Bayfield tap fee to $6,000, effective immediately. The tap fee in Gem Village will stay at $3,500.
The board raised the monthly rate to $30 for both Bayfield and Gem Village customers, effective May 1.
As for the incentive package, sewer board member Brad Elder said, “All this is absolutely our biggest bang for the buck” to reduce incoming organic loading at the Bayfield plant and improve the odds of being able to sell new sewer taps.
To be eligible for cost sharing, a business’s improvements must be installed and in operation by April 30. The district will assist by paying 50 percent (up to $5,000) of the customer’s cost to put in a pre-treatment system that provides a defined substantial reduction in strength of sewage.
The district also is offering loans to businesses that can show financial hardship on the cost of installing pre-treatment. April 30 is the deadline to apply and submit a compliance plan.
If the pre-treatment consistently reduces the business’s total volume and strength of sewage below the amount authorized by the number of equivalent residential taps (ERTs) they have already paid for, the business can get a rebate on those taps.
Any high-load customer that hasn’t started actual work or submitted a compliance plan by April 30 will be ineligible for incentives and will have until May 31 to get into compliance or face penalties.
For more information on this week’s meetings, please see Friday’s issue of the Times.
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