By: Diane Benjamin
What does the City of Bloomington Admin staff do? How many are there? I hear people are tripping over each other, maybe a lot of them are interns – but what do they do?
Tonight yet ANOTHER consultant is going to report to the City: (from the bird-cage liner)
Raftelis Financial Consultants Inc. will update the council on the progress of its sanitary sewer and storm water fee/rate study.
Any guesses on what will be reported?
Is the City staff to chicken to report the City needs to charge more?
Remember the days when only one sewer system existed? Everything ended up in the same big concrete doicky and flowed out to be treated.
Enter the EPA with a brilliant idea to cost you twice as much money! Sewer water and storm water has to be separate now. I hear low flow toilets can wreak havoc on the pipes having enough water, but heck the EPA will come up with some fix. Supposedly two systems was created to reduce flooding. Twice the price was immaterial.
Anyway, what does David Hales and his staff do? Research what consultant needs some public bucks? How much to they have to give for campaign contributions to make the “preferred” consultant list?
I wonder if they will consult on disposable flush wipes too and what those do to sewer systems. Who would have thought you could pay back the city with such a innocent looking product. What’s next a flush wipe meter/detector? I call it vertical and horizontal integration.
The separate systems are to prevent raw sewage and untreated pollutants from being dumped into rivers, streams, lakes, when there is too much storm water for the pump stations to handle. Take Chicago. If they have a combined sewer system and they get a bunch of rain, they would dump some untreated water to prevent streets, home and businesses from flooding. The problem
is, you now have pollutants in the waterways. So if our pipes drain to Lake Bloomington for example, I would be swimming in water with who knows what in it. I am not sure of reporting requirements. Combined Sewer Overflow. A story here or there can be found.
Combined sewer overflows are a serious issue and the city is required to report them, which they do here:
http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=100
Click on Monthly Drainage Report (BNWD) and Monthly Drainage Report (COB)
In june there were overflows on 6/7/15, 6/8/15, and 6/12/15
Yes, it sucks that we have to pay for this, but it is necessary.
I say some of the sewer problems are a direct result of the Planning Commission’s failure to take into account the stress of continued East Side development would put on the sewer system. The other problem is that Hales needs back-up to support his proposals and doesn’t want to rely on his own hires.
I wonder what the total dollar amount is that has been spent on consultants during Hales’ tenure. I guess millions. There should not be any more need since nearly every aspect of the city has now a strategic plan.
It’s closer to 1 mil per year!