Friday, April 13, 2012

Cape Vincent ~ Water Districts ~ Watershed Moment #2

Equivalent dwelling units (EDU’s) were defined by Supervisor Hirschey at yesterday’s board meeting.
Officially, one equivalent dwelling unit equals the use of 200 gallons of water per day or less. Using over 200 gallons per day would be more than one EDU.

However, it is my understanding that the Town is free to use their own discretion in determining the number of EDU’s for each parcel of land in a district.
The assignment of EDU’s is important. Higher water usage incurs higher operation and maintenance costs. Applying EDU’s is an important factor in distributing the costs of water in an equitable manner.

Water districts five, four, & three have similar capital arrangements in the laws governing their districts they all use EDU’s and a flat charge per unit based on the number of units. Each unit is addressed as one EDU.
Additionally the water district law for # 1 & #4 cover RV & mobile home parks.
Recreational Vehicle Parks are calculated using the number of available RV sites times’ one third to equal the number of EDU is to be charged.
Mobile home Parks are calculated by using the number of mobile home sites times 60% to equal the number of EDU’s.

The law for District # 4 includes Restaurants / Taverns they are calculated using the number of available seats times 15 GPD/ (gallons per day) seat divided by 200 GPD/EDU equals the number of EDU has to be charged.

Additionally, A flat charge based on the EDU will be charged at each billing period. The Operation & maintenance O&M water rate and/or flat charge may be adjusted by the Town board if deemed necessary.
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Water district # 1 also has a flat charge per unit billed to users however they do not use the words equivalent dwelling unit they use the words living unit or livable dwelling unit a livable dwelling or in a multi –unit building each rental unit shall be considered a living unit . For purposes of a mobile home park, a living unit shall be considered a mobile home actually on the site, but shall not include a vacant site within the park.
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District #1 The remaining portions of the debt service not covered by a flat charge shall be appropriated on a benefit assessment based upon a rate per 1,000.00 of assessed value on all property in the Water District, which amount shall be set annually at the Town’s budget hearing.
Additionally districts number one, three, four &five state that the number of units shall be determined each year as of the taxable status date, March 1. That number shall be used to calculate the initial connection fee and the annual flat charge. This flat charge shall be billed to the property owner.
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How many EDU's is a Dairy farm considered? the connection fees in the law for dairy farms and homes are the same are the EDU's the same as well?

At the special Meeting Mickey Orvis asked Supervisor Hirschey if everyone in district #3 paid the same rate, Supervisor Hirschey replied yes. Hirschey mentioned that a parcel without a residence would be half an EDU etc...

The following are connection fees from water district #1 not water charges


Water district two does not discuss EDU’s or flat rates nor do they cover connection fees or Operation & Maintenance fees .Their financial structure includes the annual cost to district users the current cost of water from the Regional Transmission line plus the current capital charges per user unit, plus an administrative charge of 10.00 per month

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's face it, a cow will drink more water than a table full of restaurateurs having their water glasses filled by an overzealous, seasonal waitress on day one of her new job.

If someone wants to compare water use for all our districts, I would wager that farms, that use municipal water for their livestock, are the biggest users of water.

Farms were given a sweetheart deal in all these water districts, thanks to farmers being in control of our town at the time. They probably thought it fair because farmers unlike the rest of us work hard (Paul Mason reminds us of this whenever he speaks).

I would hope that after these audits the town board would bring across-the-board fairness to all users in these water districts, and fairness should be established by water use, nothing else.

Anonymous said...

COWABUNGA!!!

Anonymous said...

Not only do farmers work hard, they also work for nothing, according to Paul Mason,which he also reminds us all of every time he speaks. It must be embarrassing to have ones financial woes, constantly exposed in public.

Of course we all know Paul is only blowing smoke up our asses, since there's been new retirement home building,remodeling,and constant upgrading to his family farm throughout the entire period he claims to have worked for nothing. he must think we're all as dumb as his cows. It will be a cruel twist of fate if Paul is the recipient of a town sponsored grant for further upgrading of his farm. He should pay extra taxes for making us all have to listen to him cry in public!