SEWER!!!!

[chickenbones]

What does anybody on here know about the Reading Township Sewer bills. How long are we going to keep having to pay for our portion of the new sewer that was installed 3 years ago. The whole thing has been one big joke!!!! It would be nice if someone who knows what they are talking about could tell me the real truth.

[mommytoo4]

Dec 17, 2014 15:05:21 GMT -6 chickenbones said:

What does anybody on here know about the Reading Township Sewer bills. How long are we going to keep having to pay for our portion of the new sewer that was installed 3 years ago. The whole thing has been one big joke!!!! It would be nice if someone who knows what they are talking about could tell me the real truth.

Good luck getting any answers, it is one big mess

[OutlawwithaSnipeSniper]

MM, treating liquid waster versus solid is essentially the same. I really haven't studied the lay of the land south to north, but it strikes my noggin that you guys are lower than the sewage treatment facility, so at minimum one extra pumping station would be required.

As for the price going down once it is paid for....... Al I can refer to is the toll roads....... How many years have they been paid for?

[willy]

I won't try to go into the greatest of detail Masked Man cause when this all started years ago I wasn't on the council. But years ago Mrs. Kudrick put on her horns and told the EPA that the residents of the south weren't going to do anything and that wasn't a very good answer, especially after they already had the opportunity to see what the EPA made Streator do. Then the push became a shove with the EPA doing all the shoving. Reading told them they would build their own system and whatever else they needed. The answer from the EPA was you will not build your own and that you will negotiate with the City of Streator for service. Now we got into the mess.

We told all residents that we weren't interested in annexing any of them, BUT, all those residents that could annex to the city and get on our existing lines could do so and have the $2000 hook up fee that we charged waived (they would have to pay for the work needed to hook up) and that they would pay our fees if they did indeed annex to the city. That would have been all the homes on the east side of Illinois from 12th street to Vactor, also all the homes on the south side of 12th street. A few people did annex but not many.

We had many meetings with South Streator and City Council. We also told them they could use our City Engineer for advice. We also said we beleived the system they were putting in wasn't the best idea, although being cheaper, in the long run we said it was going to cost more. We suggested deeper lines and they did not accept our findings. Now you have what you have with perpetual care on your pumps and I've been told that the company told Reading they expected a 10% failure rate in the first year alone. Your township in my opinion didn't inform the folks very well about their costs if they didn't annex when they had the chance. My thought it would have been wiser to promote the annexation for those few. It would have cost Reading less by doing that way, but they wanted higher numbers to get their loan through the EPA. I don't think that wise but that's how you got to the present situation. I'm not sure what your numbers are that you are paying Reading. I know that my sewer bill that I just paid was $51.60 and that's what I generally pay every month. I know you guys are paying more than that. I know you guys aren't happy, but we've been paying those dollars since the '50's and it's not done yet for us or you. In a few years the City will be doing another project, Coal Run Creek. That's needed and I'm not sure what that cost is.

A couple of years ago I was on here and people probably didn't like my answers about the rate that we negotiated with Reading township as to what you guys would pay. We didn't feel that you guys should pay any less than our taxpayers and EPA didn't have any problems with it either. They were the ones pushing for this to happen and Reading only had a short time to agree to our deal or lose the opportunity for the lower interest loan.

Now you guys are stuck with what your township decided on for your sewer. You won't have to worry now about ever being annexed to the City, because in all honesty you guys aren't viable with what you have and we wouldn't want to have that perpetual care that is really going to be costly in the coming years. Also, Reading has a running battle with Carriage Lane residents or the owner of the court. Either way, we don't want that battle.

It's been rumored that the EPA will want those east of Otter Creek from 12th street north to 1st street to put in a sewer system as well. I don't know if that's true only the EPA controls that. But if those folks are told by the EPA they're going to have a sewer system, guess who wins the argument and that township will have to sit down and negotiate like Reading had to. I may not be above the ground when that happens, but I'm guessing it will happen and the outcome will be the same as Reading's.

So to eventually answer mommytoo4, your cost isn't going to go away, just like mine isn't. Your's is going to be what it is now, and the contract was written that if the residents of Streator has their sewer bills increased, the sewer bills out south will increase by the same amount.

[willy]

Since I don't know what you folks are paying I shouldn't say that your costs aren't going to go lower. Evenutally the loan that was taken out to do your project will be paid off and that cost should come off of your bills.

[harleyrk]

Ask the ex Supervisor how it all is going to work as we were told we had to attach to this new system or if it went past our home we would have to pay for a sewer when and if you sold your home. I had a brand new State of the Art septic system that was 2 years old and at close to a cost of $15k when all was done, that now sits idle, I am more than pissed that I was not allowed any credit or anything toward the new system, but was told that's your tough luck!!!!!!!

[willy]

To put what we would have called the desired system out in Reading would have required a deeper digging to lay the sewer lines. The only added cost was the amount of time it took to dig. Once they were dug everyone out there would have had gravitational sewers running to the street. In the longest of runs, it would have been the most cost efficeint way of doing it. This perpetual care in Reading township is going to cost forever.

I had never heard of the scenario you spoke about concerning the dye. Not that it couldn't have happened but the EPA is a tough dog to get away from. I really doubt that they would have deemed it a purification system. And, I don't know how many problems Carriage Lane may have caused to the problem.

I do know this because those that were on the council told me what occured when they met with the IEPA long ago. The council went to Springfield to meet with them. The press went along to be able to report to the public. Now Ed Benner told me this. The IEPA told them to get out of the room and to wait in the hallway. After they left they told our officials that wanted to ask questions, you're here to listen not to speak. And they were told flat out, you will do the project and you will be fined $10K a day or month, not sure, until you sign the consent decree to do the project demanded by them. Guess what, our officials didn't talk and signed the consent decree. The rest is history and look what we've spent and it's not done yet. Those people are like the IRS, they're powerful.

[OutlawwithaSnipeSniper]

MM, believe me, you do NOT want to be the operator of a sewage facility small enough to handle your residents. The cost of running a small one is not much less than running a larger one like Streator has.

I agree with Willy on the physical layout of your system, it was done with poor thought to the future, but you would be paying significantly more if you guys had your own treatment facility.

As for the dye story, the state would have had to be a special kind of stupid to agree to anything like that. Without knowing the cubic volume of the caverns ( no way in heck to even really estimate much less know ), you couldn't tell how much dye it would take to show up.

Also, the "purifying" would not involve removing color, it would involve bacteria to reduce the organic matter.

[father of two]

If I remember correctly, my Father said the EPA did send boats out to watch for dye up and down the river. They also told him they were thinking of shutting everyone off the mines. He told them the water level may go down and cause a lot of mine cave ins. Their response was they would fill them with cement. My dad asked for a heads up if they were going to go that route so he could buy out a couple cement plants in the area.

[cubblue]

Maybe u can talk to someone up at shaws appliance (Dells) because they take reading sewer bills and some of them work for reading so they might know. I could ask someone im friends with on fb that works there and see what they say.

[chevypower]

That would be true fot, they dry up and they could fall in because of no running water, they just seen more money, so the city went with it. $70.00 sewer bill and $70.00 water bill is just crazy, and we DO NOT GO THRUE THAT MUCH WATER TO BE CHARGED THIS MUCH! POCKET CHANGE PERHAPS.