sleight of hand
Written originally 10/22/ 2009.
I listened to the Mann Orchard town hall meeting last night.
I was surrounded by my family and we all listened.
I noted some egregious mis-truths perpetrated by one candidate. Political expediency seems to breed this.
I was a member of two Water and Sewer Task forces.
These were groups organized by the Methuen City Council to review the water and sewer rate and rate setting process.
Our viewpoint was not met with overwhelming support.
That’s water under the bridge (chuckle).
I, again, heard that the Water Treatment plant capacity was increased to meet the needs of the citizens of Methuen. This statement is the crux of disagreement between the Task Force and the Administration.
The Methuen water works can now and has for the past 15 years at least been capable of producing from the Merrimack River 10 million gallons of water per day.
After about $19-$20 million worth of work, it still can only produce the same amount of water.
The cost was to upgrade the plant not increase it’s capacity.
The Plant should now have a more streamlined maintenance program and the cost of producing water should be decreasing as overhead costs for maintenance activities decline.
Even after all that work and cost and the numerous bickering about rates, costs are increasing.
Water rates are still being discussed as inadequate to generate the revenue required.
Even after all this time, this article is still true.