Lexington, KY - Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Winter is upon us, and there is shopping to do and friends and family to visit. Because money is tighter than ever this year, I wanted you to be aware of a new fee that will soon appear on your water bill.
Beginning in January, a new Water Quality Management Fee of $4.32 per month will appear on water bills for single-family homes and duplexes. Apartment complexes and non-residential properties will pay $4.32 per month for every 2,500 square feet of impervious surfaces, such as parking lots, buildings and driveways. Funds from the new fee will pay for badly needed improvements to Lexington's stormwater sewer system.
In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sued Lexington over violations of the U.S. Clean Water Act. While a number of problems are to blame, the bottom line is that Lexington's antiquated storm and sanitary sewer systems allow raw sewage to be dumped into our creeks and streams during periods of peak flow and heavy rains. Flooding in Lexington has also posed increased problems for safety, property and our environment. High water marks can be seen from floods of recent years at Ramsey's Restaurant out Harrodsburg Road and at Webb's Cleaners on Southland Drive.
These problems have grown worse over decades and pose an enormous public health and safety crisis. To settle the EPA lawsuit and to avoid additional penalties, Lexington has agreed to upgrade its wastewater treatment plants and to resolve problems with our storm and sanitary sewer systems. The cost of compliance with the EPA Consent Decree over the next 11 to 13 years will reach a staggering $250 -
300 million.
Because this is a big problem, you should know something about how Lexington's sanitary and storm sewer systems work. The sanitary sewer system carries industrial and residential waste to wastewater treatment plants. This means that water from your toilet and sink flows through the sanitary sewer system to one of Lexington's wastewater treatment plants. Lexington's stormwater sewer system carries untreated rainwater from street drains and culverts directly to our creeks and streams, which in turn flow into the Kentucky River. The problem is that flooding occurs because our stormwater sewer system doesn't have enough capacity to handle all of the rainwater flowing over parking lots, streets, sidewalks and buildings. All of this rainwater also picks up pesticides, motor oils and pollutants that kill fish and wildlife when it ends up in our creeks and streams.
While the new Water Quality Management Fee was a bitter pill to swallow, especially in this economy, the enormous cost of settling the EPA lawsuit and bringing Lexington into compliance with the U.S. Clean Water Act leaves us no choice. But more than being just a budget mandate, solving Lexington's clean water problems is important to the health and safety of our citizens. The new Water Quality Management Fee will allow Lexington to fix longstanding flood and water quality issues and to resolve pollution problems in our creeks and streams that play such an important part in Lexington's natural rural heritage and quality of life. You can find more information about Lexington's Water Quality Management Fee and the EPA Consent Decree on my council web page.
Please remember to call LexCall 3-1-1 (Mon. -
Fri.) with any questions you have about LFUCG services, and of course, call 911 if you have an emergency. Also, during this holiday season, please visit your elderly neighbors from time to time, and remember to give generously to those less fortunate.