It might be that EPD has required a new pay system for water, but we in Register already had higher water bills than Statesboro folks, and we don't pay for sewage. Water needs to be treated like the precious commodity it is. But our bills were already [too] high.

Backflow preventers are a necessary safety feature. You mention a "rebate": for the backflow preventer or thermal expansion tank? If the town is planning to install new meters, why not install the backflow preventer at the same time - when labor is already there and the ground already dug? Backflow preventers don't cost much; it seems reasonable that our splost money pay for them. BTW, I doubt that people in Register feel like your boss.

Sorry that I wasn't clear about the possible rebate. I was referring specifically to the thermal expansion tank.

The backflow preventers WILL be installed with the new meters, and SPLOST funds will pay for them.

So far, we have been unsuccessful in finding a state or federal program that will allow us to offer rebates to offset the cost of the thermal expansion tanks. But we are holding a "water fair" (for lack of a better term) on September 9th to talk directly to citizens about this project and we hope to include representatives of local plumbing companies who may be able to offer reduced "group" rates for the thermal expansion tank installations if there are enough interested citizens.

Last Tuesday, Council voted to accept the lowest bid received for the meter/backflow preventer project (approximately 50% lower than we had anticipated), so pursuing more information (cost, availability, labor costs) on the meter/backflow preventer/thermal expansion tank unit was halted.

About your last comment: I have to tell you, I am troubled that the citizens of Register don't appear to recognize the undeniable connection between themselves and the people they have elected to run the town on their behalf. It's as if, on the day after elections are held, the dynamic changes from yes-we-think-you'll-serve-the-community-well to
you're-bad-guys-intent-on-ruining-us. Perhaps it's just the nature of citizen-government relations, but I believe we can do better than that. Much better. I believe that by conducting ourselves in a forthright, honorable and visible manner, we will, albeit slowly, dissolve the adversarial relationship and replace it with one of faith and trust. If I didn't believe this was possible, I wouldn't be doing this job.

Thanks for your input. Keep it up!

Will you respond, please, to the issue of Register's water bills, already being higher than Statesboro's, before the latest increase. And did EPD actually tell Register that their water bills must be raised? Thank you.

After waiting two months for a reply, I'll post under another of your comments-guess you didn't see this.

Sorry, Likesregister, I didn't see your question. Thanks for giving me a nudge.

I can't speak to Statesboro's water rates, other than to surmise that with a whole, whole lot of more customers than Register has, Statesboro is able to spread the costs of operating a water system around.

No, the EPD didn't tell us to raise rates. The EPD told us to implement tiered rates; the Georgia Rural Water Association did an analysis of our rates and those of comparable communities and water systems and they concluded that our base rates needed bumped up and that we needed to collect money to put in reserve for maintenance and improvements.

Additionally, we learned, to our disappointment, that we don't qualify for many government grants because we couldn't cough up matching funds. We are slowly building that reserve account and hope to qualify for infrastructure grants by 2010.