SUD: Election Results, Commissioner Training
by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
At the Jan. 28 meeting, the Sewanee Utility District Board of Commissioners tallied the votes for the commissioner election. Board President Charlie Smith reviewed the new commissioner training requirements and recommended the same requirements apply to those re-elected to another term of service.
“This is one of the most contested races we’ve had in a long time,” said Commissioner Doug Cameron. Ronnie Hoosier received 19 votes. Chris McBee received 29 votes. McBee will be sworn in February.
Smith said the Utility Management Review Board, an agency of the state comptroller, had begun more carefully monitoring utility boards to verify all commissioners had completed the required training. New commissioners must complete 12 hours of training in their first year of service and an additional 12 hours during the next three years of their four-year term. The regulations also stipulate a commissioner seeking re-electing must sign a Certificate of Compliance asserting he or she completed the training requirement during the prior term of service. Commissioners may complete the training online or by attending a Tennessee Association of Utility Districts training symposium in Gatlinburg. SUD pays commissioners’ travel expenses. Regulations require re-elected commissioners receive continuing education. Smith recommended re-elected commissioners should be held to the same standard as new commissioners and required to participate in 24 hours of training during a four-year term. For verification purposes, the board will begin keeping a log of commissioners’ training hours.
The board revisited the grinder pump fee discussion. Customer Ronald Summer attended the December meeting complaining about the fee. Since then, SUD has received phone calls and a letter raising the same objection: when residents were required to connect to public SUD sewer service if available and to pay for installing a grinder pump, they were told SUD would maintain the pump going forward.
In November, SUD implemented an $8 monthly fee to offset the high cost of maintaining and replacing the pumps. The policy requiring residents to install grinder pumps and to connect to sewer when a house was built or sold was implemented at the University’s behest in the 1990s. “The University exerted a lot of control over SUD until the mid-1990s,” SUD manager Ben Beavers maintained.
“It’s the University’s fault. They should be the one paying for it,” said Summer, who again attended the meeting. Summer used a septic tank until he was required to install a grinder pump. “I didn’t ask for a grinder pump. Why should people with grinder pumps be the only ones punished? Why not everybody’s rates go up a dollar or two?”
Summer pointed out the fee was a hardship for some customers with a limited income. Cameron asked if funds from the “roundup” option on customers’ bills could be used to help people in need. Beavers said he gave the roundup funds to the Community Action Committee to distribute to those who requested assistance with utility bills. But Beavers acknowledged, “There are people who need help who will never ask for it.”