Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. January 9,
2014. Zan Murray of JUB, the City
Engineer, reported to the Council concerning the data that has been collected
so far.
The Study for Garden City is
not yet complete, but a first try at determining impact fees was presented at
the Thursday night meeting. As more
usage data is obtained, the figures can be refined. However, it was felt that the City should get
some information to assist them in changing impact fees to cover costs incurred
by the City.
Data was collected concerning
the service area and a demand analysis.
The estimated value of the total system is $8,439,295. This figure includes the treatment facility,
Payne springs and all current storage and distribution facilities. The current level of service was translated
into ERCs (equivalent residential connections).
An ERC requires 1.12 gallons per minute.
In addition, all ERCs require a certain amount of storage. Emergencies
also require additional storage which comes to another 953.38 gallons. There is currently some excess capacity
within the system.
The latent or excess capacities
as well as the percentage of growth over the next ten years are both figured
into the formula. The current debt that
has been incurred for the water system must be considered as well. Bills must be paid and future facilities are
going to be needed. The assumption that
the City should begin to pay as they go is the desired philosophy for the
future.
After working with all of the
above information, the recommended impact fee per ERC is $5,150. This is a steep increase because the current
fee is only $1,200. Apparently the City
has been paying for a fairly large part of the cost of adding new ERCs into the
system. This information will be taken
into account as the Council considers a change in impact fees.
The next step in the water
study will be to look at the monthly fees that are currently being
charged. The report on the fees should
be available in the next few weeks.
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