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Dooley's failure causes sewer bills to skyrocket. PDF Print E-mail
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Friday, 30 January 2009 02:22
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ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/04/2008

CLAYTON — Along with soaring prices for fuel and food, St. Louisans can expect down the road to face another major drain on their finances: skyrocketing sewer bills.

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District executive director Jeff Theerman told the St. Louis County Council on Tuesday that the district's 440,000 customers can expect to see sewer bills of at least $100 a month "in the not too distant future."

Such an increase would quadruple the bill for the typical homeowner, who now pays about $25 a month for sanitary sewer service.

"Atlanta and Boston have already seen $100-a-month sewer bills," Theerman said. "We can expect them here, too."
 He later said the increase could happen as soon as 10 years from now.

Theerman said the sewer district will need the money to comply with a mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency to eliminate sewage overflows into local waterways. The grand total could top $4 billion, he said.

The overflows are an age-old problem that occurs whenever MSD's pipes get overburdened during heavy rain or snow melt.

When the system exceeds its limit, sewage discharges into natural waterways, such as the Mississippi River, Maline Creek or the River Des Peres and its tributaries.

Last summer, on the orders of the EPA, the district installed 2,000 signs along waterways throughout the area that bore the warning "Possible sewage overflow." The signs forbid playing, swimming or fishing in the water and warn that exposure could cause illness.

Theerman brought up the sewer rate increase near the end of the a presentation before the council on MSD's new charge for storm water runoff and its Clean Rivers Healthy Communities program.

On March 1, MSD began charging property owners 12 cents a month for each 100 square foot of area that does not absorb water, such as roofs, patios, driveways or parking lots.

The typical homeowner pays $3 a month for storm-water control service. That monthly bill will grow to $7.25 on Jan. 1, 2014.

But Theerman said that storm-water fee will "pale by comparison" to what MSD will charge to fix the sewage overflow.

"We have no choice but to comply with the EPA," he said.

Council member Barbara Fraser, D-University City, said after the meeting that she was shocked by the estimate.

"The sewer bill has always been low enough that I hardly paid attention to it," she said. "I certainly will be paying attention to it from now on."

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 February 2009 01:30
 
Storm-water rate will rise 16 percent PDF Print E-mail
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Friday, 30 January 2009 02:17
 
 
 
 
 
 
12/12/2008

The rate for storm-water control service of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will increase by almost 16.7 percent starting Jan. 1. The district's customers will see the change on their February bills.

The district's trustees on Thursday raised the rate. It will rise to 14 cents for each 100 square feet of area that can't hold water from 12 cents for each 100 square feet of such area. A typical district householder with 2,500 square feet of such area would pay $3.50 a month compared with the current $3 a month.

The trustees committed themselves to the rate increase in March when they agreed to a series of storm-water control rate increases to 2014.

In other action, the trustees raised the yearly salary of Jeff Theerman, the district's executive director, by 4 percent to $193,384. His current yearly salary is $185,947 a year. The increase is retroactive to last June 10.

Theerman "got exactly the same raise as other employees — no more, no less," said Bob Berry, chairman of the trustees. The others got their raises July 1, but Theerman did not, Berry said.
Last Updated on Friday, 30 January 2009 02:27
 
Storm-water bills anger property owners PDF Print E-mail
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Tuesday, 27 January 2009 05:08

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ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/13/2008

Shawn and Anne Daniels lived for 23 years near Fenton without getting a bill from the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District.

Their first, received two weeks ago for $12.96 a month, floored them.

"This is nuts," said Shawn Daniels, an electrical consultant. "We're not going to pay it."
They are among 71,000 new recipients of MSD bills. The properties now being billed include parks, abandoned buildings and parking lots.
 


But about 10,000 of the new recipients, like the Danielses, have septic tank systems and don't use MSD's sewer system. The new bills are for handling surface water, and the amounts generally range from 76 cents to $20 per month.

MSD, which serves St. Louis and nearly all of St. Louis County, formerly charged its customers only 24 cents a month for handling surface water. So customers without sanitary service didn't get a bill because the cost of postage was more than the bill.

But with the overhaul of MSD's fees for handling storm water, everybody is paying more. Churches with big parking lots, for instance, are paying hundreds of dollars a month more.

On March 1, MSD began charging properties 12 cents for each 100 square feet of area that does not absorb water, such as roofs, patios, driveways or parking lots.

Lance LeComb, a spokesman for the district, said everyone should be billed because nearly all storm water eventually reaches the district's storm water system, which includes creeks.

"Everyone benefits from it," LeComb said. "They have to pay for it."

STORM WATER CONTROL

The Danielses have 10,800 square feet of area that cannot absorb water, their bill says. Their 2.5 acres include a house, a detached garage and a small barn.

The Danielses figure they will pay about $156 a year for surface water. Last year, they paid the district about $45 in real estate property taxes.

Anne Daniels blames MSD for a storm water issue on the property. She said MSD allows a subdivision above their property to drain through their land to Bowles Avenue. They have installed two sump pumps because of the added water.

Rose Dawson, who lives on a three-acre lot on Ridge Road in Wildwood that has a septic system, said the district's charge to her of $5.88 a month is just another tax.

"We are nowhere near a sewer," she said. "When we're not receiving service, why pay MSD anything?"

Residents of North Signal Hill Drive in southwest Kirkwood, whose houses are on septic tanks, also are upset about receiving bills generally between $3.50 and $7.50 a month for their one-acre lots.

Residents say their runoff does not go into the district's storm water system. North Signal Hills' rocky terrain and a former quarry absorb most of the water; the remainder goes into a creek adjacent to Kirkwood's Meramec Highlands Quarry Park, they said.

"It is unfair for the district to throw a bombshell at us," said Ann Bauer, who has lived in her home on North Signal Hill for 60 years.

LeComb said the district widely publicized the charge, holding numerous public meetings. The district's rate commission held its own round of public meetings before trustees imposed the charge last fall.

MSD expects to collect an additional $12 million in the first year from all its storm water control bills.

Officials have said that customers will see improvement in the way the district maintains its drainage system. And the area the district annexed in 1977 — generally outside of Interstate 270 — will receive storm water service for the first time.

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Last Updated on Friday, 30 January 2009 02:25