Closing Summary
The city has shown a pattern of duplication of services, and intent to continue such duplication under the auspices of having the right to serve areas within current or future city limits. They have executed contracts to duplicate such services, contracts which are still in effect at this date. The city has wasted community resources by constructing expensive lines where other providers have lines available to serve these parcels. They have wasted their now precious sewer service capacity by constructing these lines and serving lands that other providers can service. This waste should not be an excuse to grant a plant expansion, the city has mismanaged its current capability. To allow expansion as currently planned would reward this mismanagement. No area wide planning exists incorporating service area agreements with all providers. Providers must resort to legal remedies to prevent the encroachment of city lines in their service areas.
The city has shown intent to damage the environment by ignoring an important study which links the Pickerington Ponds aquifer to the city well field and continuing to plan to pump amounts of water from this well field to service this sewer plant.
The city applied for this expansion under strict De Minimus standards, it is believed in part to avoid an anti- degradation review which requires detailed information on alternatives to increasing the effluent load, such as regionalization activities. After they executed this application, they began to publicly complain about the stringent standards. Can the city meet these standards and who will monitor their compliance and how? Evidence of well developed regionalization activities and planning should be required to prevent waste of community resources.
This is the day after the election. The community has spoken and elected a slate of slow growth candidates to serve as mayor and new city council members. None of these future officials support the plant expansion in its current form and believe that further, more detailed planning is needed to determine the optimum future for our community. Proceeding with this expansion, as planned, will force the community into a growth plan it does not support nor can afford, since most all of the proposed service area for this expansion is slated for development of single family homes. I respectfully request in view of this and the other issues I have presented, that the OEPA deny the PTI as proposed. If denial is not possible given your decision parameters, delay of the issuance PTI and any funding mechanism to support this plant expansion would be a prudent course until the new government of Pickerington can chart a future course which the voters clearly mandated to be radically different than the current track.
I would also like to request a public hearing on any funding application the city submits to the OEPA, DEFA. I also request another public hearing regarding the impact the pumping of the 3.5 million gallons of service water this plant requires will have on the Pickerington Ponds aquifer.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Ross
The city has shown a pattern of duplication of services, and intent to continue such duplication under the auspices of having the right to serve areas within current or future city limits. They have executed contracts to duplicate such services, contracts which are still in effect at this date. The city has wasted community resources by constructing expensive lines where other providers have lines available to serve these parcels. They have wasted their now precious sewer service capacity by constructing these lines and serving lands that other providers can service. This waste should not be an excuse to grant a plant expansion, the city has mismanaged its current capability. To allow expansion as currently planned would reward this mismanagement. No area wide planning exists incorporating service area agreements with all providers. Providers must resort to legal remedies to prevent the encroachment of city lines in their service areas.
The city has shown intent to damage the environment by ignoring an important study which links the Pickerington Ponds aquifer to the city well field and continuing to plan to pump amounts of water from this well field to service this sewer plant.
The city applied for this expansion under strict De Minimus standards, it is believed in part to avoid an anti- degradation review which requires detailed information on alternatives to increasing the effluent load, such as regionalization activities. After they executed this application, they began to publicly complain about the stringent standards. Can the city meet these standards and who will monitor their compliance and how? Evidence of well developed regionalization activities and planning should be required to prevent waste of community resources.
This is the day after the election. The community has spoken and elected a slate of slow growth candidates to serve as mayor and new city council members. None of these future officials support the plant expansion in its current form and believe that further, more detailed planning is needed to determine the optimum future for our community. Proceeding with this expansion, as planned, will force the community into a growth plan it does not support nor can afford, since most all of the proposed service area for this expansion is slated for development of single family homes. I respectfully request in view of this and the other issues I have presented, that the OEPA deny the PTI as proposed. If denial is not possible given your decision parameters, delay of the issuance PTI and any funding mechanism to support this plant expansion would be a prudent course until the new government of Pickerington can chart a future course which the voters clearly mandated to be radically different than the current track.
I would also like to request a public hearing on any funding application the city submits to the OEPA, DEFA. I also request another public hearing regarding the impact the pumping of the 3.5 million gallons of service water this plant requires will have on the Pickerington Ponds aquifer.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Ross
