Richmond considers opening plant to waste haulers
RICHMOND – Richmond officials said opening the town’s wastewater treatment plant to private septic haulers could help defray debt from building the plant.
The plant cost about $8.5 million to build in 2007, and the village took out a $7 million loan, backed by bonds, to pay for it. Much of the remaining costs would have been paid through connection fees from a 396-home subdivision, Prairie Hill, which developer Peter Bell planned to build.
However, Bell and the village engaged in a series of lawsuits alleging annexation agreement violations. The subdivision never was built, and Bell has not paid the preconstruction connection fees that he agreed to, officials contend.
Last week, the village unveiled a 20-year plan to pay back the bond issue, which includes allowing select septic haulers to use the plant.
“It can take a receiving station, which will make us money,” trustee Dennis Bardy said. “Quite a few [haulers] are going up to Wisconsin, paying 6 cents a gallon and driving up there.”
A select group of haulers would be charged 5.5 cents a gallon to bring their waste to the Richmond plant, Bardy said.
Initially, the haulers would be allowed to bring only a combined 10,000 gallons of waste a day, but the plant could be expanded to accommodate 20,000 gallons of waste daily.
“We’re going to go 10,000 and take our time to see how demand works,” Bardy said. “If our plants are doing fine, we’re getting our haulers to bring stuff in and we’re getting money, then let’s see what happens.”
If the village implements the 20-year plan, the receiving station would generate about $96,250 in 2010, according to a presentation to residents Tuesday.
By 2016, the receiving station could generate $275,000 annually.
Between 2010 and 2013, the village must pay $170,000 annually toward the plant construction debt.
The payments increase to $455,000 annually between 2014 and 2021, and then rise to $777,000 annually until 2027, according to the proposed plan. In 2028, the village will be expected to pay back a remaining $389,000.
“As we realized we were not going to receive payment from the developers, ... we started looking at solutions,” village Administrator Tim Savage said. “We realized we had to cut expenses, which we did, and then look for outside sources of revenue.”
Bardy said the village already had done what it could by increasing hook-up fees, reducing personnel costs by almost $100,000, and renegotiating an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency loan.
He added that budgets had been kept frozen during the past two years, expenses had been kept under budget the past four years, and plant operations had been streamlined to run more efficiently.
Beyond these measures, Richmond sewer and water users were notified that they could be charged increased fees to assist in paying down the debt.
Users would pay an additional $15 a quarter during 2010, which would be a charge strictly for the plant debt.
That quarterly charge would increase to $20 in 2011, to $25 in 2012, and to $30 from the years 2013 to 2028.
One downtown business owner at this week’s meeting expressed distaste with the increased fees, but he said he understood the village’s predicament.
“I don’t like it, but no one likes more money out of their pocket,” said Rob Cetner, who owns the Wool, Warp and Wheel shop downtown. “But regardless, the debt has to be paid.”
Perhaps the only glimmer of hope for water system users is that those annual charges aren’t firm, and could be reduced if new homes are built and users added to the Richmond system.
Officials are hopeful that will be the case.
“There is a demand for this village,” Bardy said. “We just have to wait for the housing market to get back on its feet.”