9/18/1986 - Laserfiche WebLink

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SEP 18 1986 -7 BOOK 65 'm' 195 Mr. Shandloff explained that the Board of County Commissioners t would not allow an increase in water rates because the quality of the water was not good. John Ehrmantrout, 1934 5th Court, S.E., acknowledged that he* had been sworn in, and explained that at the time of the sewer rate increase he wrote back to his old home town in Maryland and asked for comparison costs, which showed that GDU is charging Vero Shores double the costs of the Maryland system. He felt that there is something wrong with the efficiency of this firm. Commissioner Bird emphasized that the County is producing the water and doing it in the most cost effective way. He believed that the northern plants are probably 30 years old and without any debt service. Mr. Henry offered the cost comparison material to Director Pinto, who said he would be very interested in reviewing it. Allen Reynolds, 473 22nd Place, S.E., Vero Shores, acknowledged that he was under oath. He could not understand why the County does not get GDU out of the picture, because if they are losing money, he felt they should be selling the system, period. He also could not understand why their rates have increased at this pace since there has been little inflation in the last 3 years. Mr.,Reynolds understood that the water plant has been taken out of operation completely and questioned the quality of the County water with respect to hardness, and Director Pinto said that there is absolutely no reason for anyone on County water to use a salt softener system. Mr. Reynolds also mentioned the problem of having their meters read out in Vero Shores. He did not believe his meter had been read for a very long time, because he had to scrape away the dirt from the meter. He wondered if GDU made any money by "guestimating" the water consumption. Chairman Scurlock believed that GDU would be very interested in that since they are paying for the meters to be read. 16