LINKING LETTER: $2.5 million needed for H20 System / $225 fee off the table / MINET

$2.5 Million More Needed

An additional $2.5 million is needed for new basin construction in areas of proposed residential development in Independence, a sum that brings the cost for upgrading and improving the water-and-sewer system to $8.4 million. A report detailing the new expenses is scheduled to go before the City Council tonight. 

 This past year, a lending agreement for $5.9 million – for design and work on the city’s water-treatment plant – was approved by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The city is evaluating “available financing tools” for the $2.5 million basin system, such as system-development charges to builders.  

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Fee Proposals

A home-occupation fee of $225 literally has been crossed off a list of proposed new charges to be enacted by the city, according to the new agenda packet submitted to the city council.  The fee had aroused objections – voiced in social media and in public testimony – at the last city council meeting. In a plea to the city council, downtown-area resident John Bodnovits noted that this cost resembles another tax for already overburdened citizens. Other fees are directly related to development reviews, including applications from builders that involve time of city personnel in evaluation and investigation of the plans for homes, office buildings or industry.

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MINET Restored, New Tech Needed

An outage of the city’s municipal fiberoptic system, MINET, has been corrected.  However, the loss of connectivity points to the need for some new infrastructure, according to a statement from MINET, which noted that part of MINET’s system is more than 10 years old and “aging out.” (The Independent will take a look at this need, and at the potential impact of 5G technology in a spring issue, 2019)