Fort Wayne springs surprise attack on Huntertown utility rate payers
Those of you who did not attend the Huntertown Town Council meeting on Monday, June 18: The Journal Gazette neglected to print a very important topic that was discussed at that meeting, which you all need to be aware of.
It was recently brought to our attention that Fort Wayne City Utilities quietly went to the Fort Wayne City Council to ask for approval of an ordinance, and if you are thinking, Fort Wayne city ordinances don’t apply to Huntertown residents, well think again.
That ordinance, if passed, may increase Huntertown sewer rates by 110 percent in the event our wholesale contract with them expires, is terminated or if we are in substantial default.
In case you don’t know, Huntertown’s wholesale sewer rate contract with the City of Fort Wayne expires in 10 months (April 2013). Fort Wayne is using this proposed ordinance to attempt to force Huntertown to sign a contract with them, or be a “retail customer” and pay them a 110 percent higher sewer utility rate if IDEM does not approve our application to disconnect from Fort Wayne in order to build our own sewage treatment plant. (Huntertown is still awaiting IDEM’s decision).
Should IDEM not approve Huntertown’s application, and if Huntertown is compelled to sign another contract with Fort Wayne, according to Fort Wayne’s long-term control plan with the EPA to address its combined sewer overflow problem, their proposed sewer rates will continue to increase every year after 2012 by 8 percent for at least the next dozen years. Initially, they offered to limit increases to 3 percent per year, but only for the first five years. In return, Fort Wayne wanted Huntertown’s water utility or would require Huntertown to buy its water from Fort Wayne. The current Huntertown Council members all agree that our water utility is not for sale.
Are the good people of Huntertown being punished for attempting to become independent of Fort Wayne and wanting to live peacefully in a quiet bedroom community within close proximity to Fort Wayne?
Is this retaliatory? I think so.
Is this legal? We’ll find out soon enough. I sure hope the City Council is asking for the financial rationale behind this outrageous proposed increase.
Please voice your concerns to the following Fort Wayne City Council members: Marty Bender, Dr. John Crawford, John Shoaff, Tom Smith, Russ Jehl, Tom Didier, Mitch Harper, Geoff Paddock, and Glynn Hines. They can be reached at citycouncil@cityoffortwayne.org.
Ask them to not sign the proposed ordinance.
Huntertown ratepayers please speak out and help keep our utility rates affordable.
Patricia Freck, Huntertown Town Council Member
Obama: "Private sector is doing fine"
In February 2009, President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus program was supposed to create 5 million new jobs and reduce unemployment below 8 percent by the end of 2010. He missed both projections by wide margins.
At the end of May 2012, unemployment was still above 8 percent and only 69,000 new jobs were created in May, the fewest in a year. When we add in people who have stopped looking for work the real unemployment rate is closer to 13 percent.
During Obama’s term the national debt has increased by $5 trillion to over $15 trillion, and is increasing. The flailing administration has created extreme uncertainty in the private sector, which has depressed manufacturing activity and inhibited hiring.
Obama’s policies and programs have had a negative impact on the work force. He has obstructed job creation by putting the Keystone pipeline project on hold. The Congressional Budget Office stated Obama’s healthcare bill will cost 850,000 jobs.
The latest reports show we could be in a stagnant economy and could possibly fall back into another recession. President Obama has been in office three and a half years, and he owns the faltering economy. As President Truman said, “the buck stops here."
Donald A. Moskowitz
Londonderry, N.H.
