Public Service Board To Take On Storm Drain Maintenance
EL PASO, TX. – An increase in waterfees could soon be headed for residents and it’s all in the name of protecting the Sun City from flooding.
Beginning March of 2008,the Public Service Board will be responsible for storm water drainage in El Paso. Previously, there had been no funds set aside for storm water maintenance or engineering, so the issue had gone unnoticed; that was the case until August of 2006.
Storm 2006 taught El Paso that storm waterand more importantly drainage of that water was cause for great concern.That iswhy the board now plans to to provide proper maintenance for all the storm water systems in the Sun City, including all the buried pipelines, open channels, dams and retention ponds.
But, in order to do that, the board needs money and that’s whereresidents’ helpcomes in. The board says starting in March, there could be a user fee on water servicebills.The plan would essentially work like this:
Residents with an average size home, between 1200 and 3000 square feet would pay $4.75 per month. Homes under 1200 would pay about half that and those over 3000 will pay $9.50 per month. For schools and businesses, the board will do a site specific tour to determine the monthly fee.
The board says they are not concerned only with existing structures. “For all the new developments, we would apply new engineering standards, to ensure all of the new developmenst have the required standards for storm drainage. So, as the developments take place there aren’t residents or business flooded’downstream’ because of that new development,” said Ed Archuleta of the Public Service Board.
As ofThursday, the rates had not yet been firmly established, there will be a public hearing on December 12th to make the final determination.The public is invited to attend the Public Service Board’s meetings to contribute opinions, comments and ideas.
– – – – – – – – –
Written for broadcast by Rachel Abell
Edited for KVIA.com by Miguel Martinez
