Activists challenge city on water rates

A proposed water rate increase in Sisters hinges upon proposals for capital improvements to the city's water system.

In recent weeks, City Manager Eileen Stein sought to get staff and city council agreement on what, if any, capital expenditures are absolutely necessary in the next several years. (Capital expenditures are costs related to making changes to improve capital assets, increase their useful life, or add to the value of those assets.) With this set of capital projects in place, the city staff was to present the city council with a variety of financing options and their subsequent impact on water rates for their selection and approval.

Local activists Ed Protas and Mike Morgan are arguing that the proposed Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) are based on faulty growth data and inconclusive usage models. The CIP will be presented to the council for approval at this Thursday's city council meeting at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

According to city documents, the plans are based on growth rates of 3.8, 5.5 or 9 percent, depending on the document cited. Those challenging the city's projection of 2,400 residents in Sisters maintain that the actual growth rate for Sisters is zero or negative, and will remain that way for several years to come. There are currently approximately 1,100 hook-ups to the city water system.

Current city data shows a decrease in overall demand for water between 2004 and 2010 (277 million gallons in 2004 vs. 222 million gallons in 2010) while a chart of future demand shows a steady and significant increase in demand for that same period and beyond.

The need for the repair/recalibrating of the 10-year-old water meters, rebuilding the pump on Well No. 1, and replacing the chlorine gas systems (used to disinfect the water) with solids-based sodium hypochlorate systems is also being challenged on the basis of detailed data from studies in other, much-larger, cities.

However, despite the questions being raised about the need for capital improvements or projects there is general agreement that current city water revenues are going down. Whether this is due to conservation or decrease in population is arguable, but regardless of why the revenues are decreasing, the city will be forced to offset this decreased revenue with either a reduction in services or expenses or with some form of increase in revenue.