SEELEY LAKE - As a resident of the Sewer District (Dogtown) I try to stay informed and considered applying to fill the vacant board seat. I didn’t, due to other long standing commitments on the same night as the board meetings.
I then heard that Troy Spence was planning on stepping down due to the hostile atmosphere of the board and its unwillingness to work towards a common goal as directed by the community through its last sewer board election. Since my commitments have been met, I was ready to seek that position.
To my astonishment, the board filled that position without any public notification. I understand that since they only had three applicants for the prior open position, they felt there was a lack of interest in the community. It wasn’t a lack of interest on my part, rather a prior obligation that I needed to fulfill. Might timing issues be true of other interested persons?
Although the community elected board members interested in reviewing the current proposed system to confirm that it is still the best for us over 25 years later, the board has now reverted to the “We love the old system” motto. It is unclear to me why a citizens group shouldn’t be appointed to gather information about additional types of available systems and their estimated costs. This information would then be brought before the board for public discussion and comment. What difference can say, 90 days make, when we have been hassling about this for so many years.
I am not saying this is an incorrect system for us, only that in this era of change and science, we should confirm its long-term viability. Here are a few suggestions for the evaluation process and consideration.
Education:
• Small Community Wastewater Cluster Systems - https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ID/ID-265.pdf
• Type of Sewer Systems -https://ocw.unihe.org/pluginfile.php/440/mod_resource/content/1/Urban_Drainage_and_Sewerage/1_Introduction/Types%20of%20sewer%20systems/Type_of_sewer_systems.pdf
• Learn About Small Wastewater Systems - https://www.epa.gov/small-and-ruralwastewater-systems/learn-about-small-wastewater-systems
Systems:
• Rodi Systems, high performance water treatment systems - http://www.rodisystems.com
• Rotordisk, The simple sewage solutions - http://blumetric.ca/rotordisk-simplesewage-solution
• Clearas Water Recovery, wastewater treatment solution -http://clearaswater.com
Sincerely,
Cheryl Thompson
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