Charlotte owns a forum on wastewater problems – Main Street Media of Tennessee

The city of Charles discussed problems with the wastewater system during its regular meeting on Tuesday, January 28 and at a special public meeting on January 21st.

The city’s public meeting held at the Hawks Den of a Balpark in Charlotte has enabled citizens to evaluate the future of the wastewater system in the city. Mayor Garland Braden said the sewer system was “on the threshold to be in capacity” while schools in the city are in a session.

He also said that some sewer pots have problems that are partially caused by citizens who build water drainage channels in the sewer. The city already uses a grant from the Ministry of Environment and Tennessee conservation (TDEC) for approximately $ 250,000 to replace broken sewer pots and plans to use more funding to extend the sewer system in the drip field, which will allow the sewage more sewage Capacity, according to Bradon.

“We started the process with these grants and the previous grant we received, we started the process with the replacement of these pots and the landscaping needed to avoid this,” said Mayor Braiden. “And only in a few pots we have replaced, our water gallons have fallen a lot, reduce and we have 14 more pots we want to go to other problems we know.”

In July 2024, the State Technical Advisory Service of the State (MTAS) released an overview of the financial sufficiency of the Charlotte sewage, recommending the city examining changes in the structure and increase to provide revenue for the sewer system and to avoid the system to be in the system in Financial disasters. This includes a minimum monthly fee based on the meter size and the same speed of a thousand gallons. The recommendations are from $ 10 to $ 130 a month, depending on the meter size and $ 9.25 for $ 1000 gallons used. The city did not vote for the tariff structure and it is unknown when such a vote can be held.

Citizens, including former members of the Charlotte Council, shared their concerns about the sewer system. Former Charlotte Advisor Donnie Allen said the city should not distribute the sewage to another entity, as the city will also distribute the funds, properties and the equipment of the sewer.

“I don’t think there is a person who would understand if he had to raise the rates because he had become a profit,” Alan said. “We have to become a profit or lose it. And why we have to give it away, because if you give it up, you will give it the means, property, equipment and everything that goes with it. And I don’t think we have to do it as a city. “

The owner of Lucy’s washing machine Vince Smolutha said his biggest fear of the sewer system was that it could fail, forcing his business to close.

“My biggest fear is that one day this thing will fail and then I will have to close the washing machine,” Suzh said. “I don’t want to go into this situation, so I want to know what it will take to have a good, solid system and keep it and work well.”

During the regular meeting, Council member Chris De work expressed concern about the future of the sewer system, saying that even if the city expands the drip field of the system, the sewer will still have problems with broken pots and capacity. City recorder Jennifer Carley told Deloach that the wastewater meeting reports that the infiltration and infiltration have dropped after the broken sewer pots have been replaced, but council member Ricky Pastor has said that the city has found citizens to flow water in their sewage The sewer.

Deputy Mayor Melinda Miller told the Council that he wanted the city to hire more people to work in the sewer system and see more sewer pots.

“I would like to see and I said this before, I would like to see all the 20 pots placed in the ground,” Miller said. “I would like to see the drip field. Let’s see what happens. I want the job to do. I want to soon. “

The city unanimously approved the use of TDEC funds to rent a drip field for about $ 3,500. He wants to use rental equipment to expand the drip field to meet the state requirements. He also unanimously approved the acceptance of the SCADA system to buy the SCADA system for about $ 105,675.

The city unanimously approved of the regular council time from 7:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The meetings will still be held at the Collier House on the fourth Tuesday of each month.