UEP flip-flop will impact ratepayers
To the editor:
Once again we had a council member flip flop on the UEP vote. How many times is the council going to start and stop the UEP? Stopping it now, puts the financial burden on the present ratepayers, for the Kismet water plant which was built to service the new areas, not the old. From the vote this week, it seems that those who yell the loudest in this city get what they want without thinking of the consequences of their not wanting the UEP to go forward.
Sure, times are tough. They are tough for everyone. Not just in the UEP areas. Many of the ratepayers can’t really afford the huge increase in their water bills. I wonder at the ones that complained about the UEP going forward, as to whether they figured in the upkeep cost of their wells and septic systems when figuring the cost to them for the UEP.
One idea that was brought up at the meeting makes some sense. Create a special assessment district for the water plant bonds. Not the whole city, only the areas in which the plant would have serviced. Those already on the system paid for the existing plants, not the whole city. This situation should be treated the same.
As for the vote Monday night. Every time there is a vote for the UEP, Gloria Tate makes sure she tells everyone that she has no conflict of interest according to the governor’s office. Why is it she ran to the state for a ruling? It is, in many peoples minds, a perceived conflict of interest. Mayor Burch abstains from voting due to a perceived conflict of interest, just because he works for the company that did the survey work on the UEP. Ms. Tate should do the right thing and abstain from voting or not sell real estate in the city until she is off the council.
Also, the reason most ratepayers didn’t go to the meeting to speak out for the UEP is that they didn’t want to be booed at or have a confrontation with those in favor of stopping the UEP.
This project needs to be passed before it is too late for the ratepayers. I for one will mark my water bill, the portion that is the increase for the Kismet plant is a loan, not a payment. All ratepayers should do this. Maybe then the Council will wake up to the fact we are not going to put up with being forced to pay someone else’s bill for a plant we won’t be using.
Bruce R. Miller
Cape Coral