Frustrated Mt. Union residents wonder what will happen next

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

MT. PLEASANT NEWS

MT. UNION ? Mt. Union residents are frustrated these days.

They are frustrated because approximately 15 community residents are not paying their sewer bills, and even more frustrated that the Mt. Union City Council is showing no leadership in attempting to get the residents to pay up. But their biggest frustration is that if the Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS) does shut down the town?s sewer system, there aren?t any backup plans in place.

?The city needs to collect the money from those who haven?t paid their monthly bills and get them to pay,? Randy Wilkerson stated. ?The city has never gone after the people who haven?t paid.?

Wilkerson made his remarks during an informal meeting of area residents at Steve Gerling?s farm Wednesday afternoon.

?I don?t feel very good about it (people not paying),? Dennis Breon stated. ?When the sewer first went in, people knew the amount. If they weren?t paying their water bills, their water would be turned off and if they weren?t paying their electric bills, their electricity would be shut off. If everybody paid their bills, there wouldn?t be this problem. It is not right that I am paying $150 and some aren?t paying anything.?

Roger Richers said he has always paid his RUSS bill ?and doesn?t like it that others aren?t paying, but I am not going to jeopardize losing my property over it.?

The men were referring to the recent sewer fee hike by RUSS, owners of the wastewater treatment system. Formerly, residents paid $75.85 per month for the service, but the rate was nearly doubled to $150 in December by RUSS directors. The rates became effective the first of the year.

RUSS said it had to increase rates because it cannot afford the bond payment, operation, maintenance and utility costs associated with the facility on the money received in monthly fees from Mt. Union residents.

Bruce Hudson, RUSS executive director, said during the board?s Jan. 13 meeting that if RUSS does not receive more revenue, the system would be shut down. The board then instructed Hudson to get quotes from contractors to remove the system.

During the same meeting, Hudson said Mt. Union residents owe nearly $45,000 in delinquent bills and that about 14 or 15 residents have never paid their monthly bill. RUSS is worried that if they default on their United States Department of Agriculture loan for the Mt. Union plant, it could adversely affect future RUSS projects.

?We are continuing to go backward (on Mt. Union),? Hudson said during the Jan. 13 RUSS board meeting. ?We don?t have enough (customers) paying to offset those who are not paying?If we ever reach the point where we can?t pay the invoices, it is end game. We never dreamt it would get to this point?At some point you have to pull the plug.?

Gerling, who is chairman of the trustees of the Mt. Union Benefitted Fire Districts, said he is drafting his fiscal 2017 budget and is uncertain about what to budget for sewer expense.

?We have a budget meeting tonight,? Gerling reported. ?What am I supposed to do? How do I know what to budget? Last year, I budgeted $60 to $70 a month and that was all blown out of the water. However, I want it to be known that we will make sure everyone in Mt. Union has fire protection.?

None of the men said they had any animosity toward RUSS. In fact, they said the utility has been more than fair in its dealings with Mt. Union and has been up front with the community.

Gerling and Wilkerson met with Hudson earlier this month and came away impressed. ?I thought the meeting with Bruce was very informative. Every question we asked was answered and backed up with paperwork,? Wilkerson reflected.

?They (non-paying Mt. Union residents) want us to believe Bruce and RUSS are lying to us, but the more we investigate, we find out that is not the case,? Richers added.

Wilkerson places nearly all the blame for the problem at the feet of the city council. ?If the city would have taken the responsibility four years ago and made people pay, we would be paying $40 a month instead of $150. It all comes down to the city not taking responsibility and that?s why we?re in this mess now.?

?We want the people to pay their bills and get us out of this,? Gerling added.

Breon said he couldn?t understand why so many Mt. Union residents are paying when others are not. ?The $150 takes a lot from my budget. I don?t have a bottomless checking account,? he noted. ?Why can?t some of those residents at least pay something? RUSS would work with them.?

The current situation also has adversely impacted property values in the town, Wilkerson remarked. ?You can almost figure houses aren?t worth anything with $150 a month sewer bills. And if you try to rent one, you can?t get a renter willing to pay that much for sewer.?

A bigger question, however, is looming for Mt. Union residents. What happens if RUSS does shut down the system?

Gerling has heard that some residents want to revert back to using the septic tank system. That would be expensive, he said. ?It cost at least $500 to pump out the tank, and I would imagine the total cost of getting it up and running would be close to $1,000. But I don?t know if the DNR (Iowa Department of Natural Resources) would allow that (going back to the septic tank system).?

Richers said Mt. Union Mayor John Marek posted on Facebook that the city does not have a plan if the system is shut down. ?He said he is just waiting to see what RUSS does.?

Wilkerson has the same question. ?If they shut it down, what?s our options? I think the city council would inform us so that we could be prepared. It seems like the city wants to break RUSS so they can?t operate, but if that happens, where do we go??

?We just don?t know what?s going to happen and that makes us uneasy,? Wilkerson concluded.