Flooded with hundreds of angry e-mails from water customers, the Raleigh City Council delayed voting on a proposal by Mayor Charles Meeker to temporarily raise water rates by 50 percent. Criticized for not doing enough last summer when the drought first took hold, the mayor now finds himself being accused of trying to make up for lost time with an illconceived and punitive proposal. Is the plan necessary or does it go too far?
How do you figure it would be harder for large families, when the rationing is per person?
The 25 gal/day usage is fairly possible. I'm one person, retired, stay at home, have rarely used out-of-home facilities and, with effort, used 15gal/day in the last bimonthly bill. I still wash my dishes in the sink so I could easily save more by collecting more and using the dishwasher.
How many years have the AUTOR-RITEEES told us wells were evil and only central command and control water distribution worked?
How many gallons of water does it take to make a paper plate?
How many RAIIIIIN FOREST TREES will be chopped down to make
paper plates?
How many gallons of water from underneath the SAHARA,yes
SAHARA Desert are piped into Libya every day?
Face it folks, this is just another power grab from all the usual suspects.
2/3rds of the earth is covered with water.
The same people who want to dump tons of H20 effluent into the atmosphere from Hydrogen powered cars seek to convince us to soil ourselves with unwholesome water use restrictions.
ATTENTION HOME BUYERS from around the world. DO NOT MOVE
to the Triangle. The Goobermint is run by LUNATICS.
We have money for bridges across the Interstate so people can rollerblade and skateboard in comfort, but we have NO
MONEY to distribute life giving water to anyone who lives here.
ATTENTION CURRENT HOME OWNERS: You may as well be living in a canvas tent for all the value your property will have after Meeker and Company finish trashing the local economy.
Hey, hey, ho, ho, Mayor Meeker has to go! Sign the recall petition today!!!!
The idea that we can implement software to do tiered billing is ridiculous. Everyone should get a basic amount at the current rate and over that billed at the increased rate. Another example of increasing fees (i.e. taxes) to fix a problem!
One more thing, I understand Falls Lake dam was constructed improperly and the lake is about 11 feet lower than the original design. If this is true, what is being done to increase the capacity by fixing the dam?
Have Meeker and his city council resigned yet as a result of the gaffee heard round the world?
Good Grief! Every Corporate CEO, Board Of Directors and Stockholder of every major company in the world
within keyboard range of the Internet could only think one thing : If the mayor and city council of the largest
city in the Triangle best response to a water shortage is to use 25 gallons a day and smell like Frenchmen we
better not relocate there! What a bunch of Rubes!
If the Brainiacs at NC State( remember NC State? The brain trust that designed the original hog lagoons that dot
the North Carolina Countryside?) Duke, UNC, Shaw, St. Augustines, Peace and Meredith College(s) cannot decide
how to untangle a water shortage in an area with exponential population growth maybe parents of college age students
should look elsewhere for their children's education lest they absorb the deportment and demeanor of dolts after $100,000
in expenses.
If the ruling families of the area- the almighty Yorks and Goodmons- cannot intervene behind closed doors to keep their
governing class from embarrassing the entire region maybe people need to think twice before they consider the Triangle
as a relocation destination.
What a bunch of maroons! (As Bugs Bunny used to say!)
How will the city determine how many persons in a household to see if they're complying with the 25 gallons per person per day?
The same way they determine tax value of property. A flat-out guess.
Mayoe Meeker wants to raise our taxes for buses and now raise our taxes for water. If he had been a leader during the last drought, we would not be in dire straits.
It would seem these restrictions may be necessary at this time, but there are many issues to be addressed:
1) What will be the mechanism for lifting or relaxing the restriction when water is more plentiful? Can the city's computer handle that?
2) In times of drought rain barrels will obviously not be sufficient for farming and home gardening needs. Will there be an allowance for that or will private well water be allowed for food production?
3) How will these restrictions be applied, monitored, and enforced for municipal properties, private businesses, manufacturers, recreational facilities (golf courses, new home builders, etc. The burden needs to be shared by all.
4) Will the city provide rain barrels for those who need them or provide a credit to assist in purchase of the barrels. Also, are the rain barrels mosquito resistant?
5) If the city is not able to bill on a tiered system, then what kind of surcharge would be added?
I really don't know how many toilet flushes, dishwasher loads, clothes washer loads, food preparation, personal consumption of drinking water, house cleaning, and showers/personal hygiene activities can be accommodated with 25 gallons per day per person. Is this a reasonable target?
The fact is that we have promoted city growth beyond our water supply capabilities. This is a wake-up call for us to consider the limitations of our natural resources when promoting ever increasing growth in our city size and infrastructure. Perhaps we need to increase the amount and size of our water supply reservoirs knowing that the problem is going to be exacerbated in the future at our current rate of growth.
water consumption
25 gallons per day rule penalizes larger families and stay at home families such as moms with kids and retirees. I do think all of us should do all we can to reduce water useage however.