September 18, 2007
RE: Recent Triana Agreement
On
August 20, 2007, during a regularly scheduled Board meeting, the Madison Water
and Wastewater Board approved a tri-party agreement with the Town of
Triana
and the local developers
of a proposed master planned development adjacent to the Town of
Triana
.
The key components of this agreement included the following:
·
The Developers will
annex the property into the Town of
Triana
·
Madison Water and
Wastewater Board will serve the project with water and wastewater services
·
The Town of
Triana
will grant the Madison
Water and Wastewater Board permission to use City rights of way for a river
intake pipeline necessary to use the Tennessee River as a water source for
Madison
.
The
Water and Wastewater Board believes that the agreement is beneficial to each of
the three parties. During recent weeks,
there have been individuals who have asserted that the agreement is bad for the
citizens of
Madison
and bad for the Madison School Board. (Triana residents have the right to attend
Madison
Schools
because its citizens contribute ad valorem tax to the
Madison
system.) Someone with an apparent
interest in opposing the proposed development has hired a telemarketing firm to
conduct “surveys” filled with negative implications about the Triana agreement and has mailed postcards to Madison
residents filled with inaccurate information about the agreement, all while going
to great lengths to hide their identity.
It
is easy to make anonymous criticism using false information. Absent information
about the author’s identity or motive, the public is left with no information
except the false accusations so flippantly made. While we believe that our
first responsibility is to provide reliable and efficient utility services, we also
believe that you have a right to know the facts related to this agreement
rather than distorted misinformation disseminated by someone interested in
creating discord and disharmony.
The
facts are that we are working diligently to solve a serious water supply issue
for
Madison
resulting from a rapid growth rate and this summer’s drought. We are evaluating
all options to ensure we can be self-sufficient to provide adequate supply for
Madison
citizens by next
summer. Rather than get involved in
politics and criticism, we will move forward to achieve this goal.
While
we do not have the luxury of lengthy delays, we are committed, as we always
have been, to comply fully with the Open Meetings Law that applies to our Board
and to making decisions that serve the interests of our ratepayers.
Due
to recent comments from certain public officials and the false statements made
in “surveys” and postcards distributed by parties with a financial interest in
opposing the Agreement, we feel it is important to address these issues here. Below is our response to some of the false
accusations made recently.
1.
The Agreement was made without input from City
officials.
Our Board is comprised of five members, appointed by
the City Council, who are charged with overseeing the policy and operations of
our utility system. All were actively engaged in considering and approving this
agreement, which passed unanimously. Two
of our Board members are active members of the Madison City Council. Other City Council members were aware of this
agreement before voting occurred. The
Superintendent of the Madison City Schools was informed of the Board’s
consideration of the agreement. The
Mayor of Madison was aware of the pending agreement. Triana’s Mayor and
City Council actively discussed the proposed agreement in open meetings. Our
Board considered and then approved the agreement in an open meeting.
The Board is responsible for the water and wastewater
infrastructure of the City. We obviously
attempt to provide information to the City and School Board relevant to capital
or policy decisions they have to make and we trust they make their best efforts
to extend the same courtesy to our Board; however, we all have different jobs
to do. The Board does not expect to be
asked about the location of new schools other than to determine whether
utilities will be available there. Likewise, the School Board does not expect to
be involved in the manner in which our Board seeks to gain additional water
sources, other than to know whether the decision will affect attendance. That is the type of input we expect and we
provide.
2.
This one development will bring over 1,000 new
students to Madison Schools
At best, this is mere speculation. This development contains approximately 300
acres. A small portion of it is in a
flood zone and part of the development will be commercial. It is quite possible that it will bring some
new children to our schools over the next 3-5 years, just as will the various
developments within
Madison
City
limits. This is why
we informed the School Board of the possible impact of our agreement. No one at
the School Board has expressed any concern over the Agreement. When the Board agreed to accept Triana students in exchange for Triana’s tax contribution to
Madison
Schools
, it did not put a
cap on Triana’s future growth. The entire area is growing and we all have
come to expect that. The Board’s role is to provide adequate water and
wastewater resources and infrastructure. The School Board is committed to
keeping up with student population growth in the area.
3.
The agreement will lead to explosive growth and
annexations bringing thousands of new homes and apartments over which our City
will have no control.
Future growth requires available property. The City of
Huntsville
has already annexed most of the
available property in the area around Triana. The Federal Government (Wheeler Wildlife Refuge)
is a large property holder as well. While there are a few remaining tracts that could be developed, this
again is speculation. Our one agreement
will not lead to explosive growth. No one
knows what may happen in the next ten years. However, it is clear that the
growth potential of the Town of
Triana
is limited by these
factors. Beyond that, it serves no
constructive purpose to engage in unfounded speculation.
4.
Madison Water Board can access the
Tennessee
River
for a water source without the secret deal or bringing
hundreds of new students to our schools.
First, there was no secret deal. Our Board, and to our
knowledge, Triana’s Council acted entirely in
compliance with Open Meetings laws.
Second, our Board has explored all available options
for a river intake site. Before entering
into this agreement our staff had multiple meetings with Wheeler Wildlife
Refuge personnel about possible sites for a river intake. The refuge does not want to create new
corridors through refuge property. A
close inspection of maps will reveal that you cannot reach the river without
crossing their property. The refuge
directed us to our primary location. It
is within the city limits of Triana. Triana is an incorporated
municipality. We must have their consent to use their rights of way. In any
event, we believe it is more constructive to work with neighbors instead of
trying to run roughshod over them. Our
objective from day one was to develop a partnership that would be mutually
beneficial.
5.
This new Triana growth will
be in addition to the expected BRAC growth.
New residential growth occurs where there is demand
for residential growth. Regardless of whether growth occurs because of base
re-alignment or because of the attractiveness of the area, it is the job of all
of our governmental agencies and school systems to be prepared for it. Our
agreement helps us do so, within
Madison
City
limits as well as in
the development to be served under our agreement.
6.
Our water rates will go up to pay for this new project
to benefit these developers.
First, this agreement was not made for the benefit of
developers. The Board’s interest in the project is solely to secure the
cooperation of the Town of
Triana
and assist the Town by
providing utility resources otherwise unavailable. Second, a small single
development does not cause a rate increase. Because it is outside of
Madison
City
limits, the occupants of this development will pay a premium for water and
sewer service to compensate the Board for additional costs it may incur in
serving properties outside of
Madison
.
Third, our water rates are competitive with or less than most other providers
our size. Our sewer rates are lower even than
Huntsville
’s
rates and we have another rate cut scheduled next April (while
Huntsville
has additional
rate increases scheduled over the next several years). Our water rates are higher than
Huntsville
,
Decatur
and
Athens
but are
competitive or lower than most other service providers in this area. This agreement will not cause a rate
increase.
7.
These decisions are being made in secret without pubic input by the
Triana
City
Council and the Madison Water Board – which do not answer to
Madison
votes!!!
As noted above, this is a false statement. The Board approved this agreement by a
unanimous vote at its regular public meeting on August 20, 2007. The Huntsville Times was present at this
meeting and printed a report on the agreement on August 21. The Town of
Triana
approved
this agreement in an open meeting on August 13, 2007. We fully comply with open meeting laws. Our Board meets every first and third Monday
of each month at 5:30 at our main office located at
101 Ray Sanderson Drive
. The public is always welcome to attend and
voice any comments they may have. These anonymous
attacks are totally unfounded.
8.
Overcrowded schools will lower your property values!
This statement assumes that this development will result
in overcrowded schools, a false assumption. The School Board is committed to
doing what is necessary to keep up with growth in the area and has done so
throughout its ten-year existence.
Madison
schools are among the top schools in the state and naturally continue to
attract more students. As it does and our community continues to grow, we are
committed to providing the water and sewer resources necessary to meet this
growth. Again, this was our objective in entering into this agreement.
9.
Ask questions and demand answers!!!
We agree with this statement and we have some
questions of our own. Who is behind this campaign of false information? Why will they not identify themselves? Who stands to gain by undermining this
cooperative agreement between our Board and the Town of
Triana
? What is
their motive for doing so? Why would
someone go to the extent of avoiding use of an identifiable postage meter and
putting stamps on every postcard mailed in order to hide their identity? Who considers this agreement such a threat to
their personal financial interest that they would spend thousands of dollars to
spread false information about it? Citizens
of
Madison
do
deserve answers. We deserve answers.
In
closing, we stand behind our agreement. It is in the best interest of Madison and Triana. Triana is an
important partner. Our wastewater
treatment plant is in Triana. We are currently in the permitting stage for
two new wells in Triana. We continue to drill on other properties in Triana. We value our
relationship and will not do anything to cause it harm.
We
are strongest when we work together. We
value our relationships with each of our utility neighbors. It is time we stop
working against each other and identify common causes that allow us to move
forward. Yes, we are trying things that
may be outside the box; we are being open to listen to new ideas but is that not what continuous improvement is all about.
We
have an open door policy. I am available
to address any concern that anyone may have pertaining to our business
operations. I have extended this
invitation especially to those, known and anonymous, who have expressed concern
over our agreement with Triana. To date, my invitation remains unaccepted.
Thank
you for allowing us to be your service provider. We look forward to the
opportunity to be good stewards of this essential resource.
Ricky K. Pounders
General
Manager
Madison
Water and Wastewater Board