Response to the Anonymous Letter of 4-2-09 Critical of the Sewer Project
-- From the board members of PWSD #13 of Jefferson County
From the anonymous letter:
"In the early 70's a group of lake residents went to court over concerns that the original developers were not satisfying the needs of lake residents. The final outcome of that trial was the formation of the current LTPOA board, and several modifications to the original deed of restrictions. The court ruling is affectionately referred to as the Dortch decision. Item 6, subsection b. of that agreement states that “the trustees shall not have any right or obligation to construct a sewer or water system to serve the subdivision, or levy any assessments, and all references to a water or sewer system are hereby null and void” [emphasis added]. This means that the reference on page 15 of the Jan/Feb Lake Tishomingo News referring to the transfer of rights under article 13 of “the restrictions” to lay pipes on your property was negated many years ago and is meaningless "
According to LTPOA attorney Dennis Tesreau, the Dortch decision of 1971 was overruled by subsequent Missouri Supreme Court case LTPOA vs. Cronin decision of 1984. The Lake Tishomingo restrictions remain in effect including article 13 that gives the LTPOA the right to lay sewer pipes. 
PWSD#13 attorney Bob Sweeney agrees and adds that the LTPOA versus Cronin decision is a landmark decision often cited and used in case law.
From the anon. letter:
"Contrary to the LTPOA contentions, the planned central sewer system will remove county restrictions imposed some years ago, requiring that you have forty thousand square feet to develop your property. There are an estimated 75 lots that will be able to build homes once the central sewer is operational. This will eventually result in a legal challenge from property owners wanting to reclaim the real value of their property! It was the county, never LPTOA, who imposed these restrictions, and they will be removed upon the completion of the proposed central sewer system. The results will be more residents and boat traffic and will generate no new revenues for our lake community! "
Attorney Tesreau confirms that the LTPOA has the right to set the minimum size for a buildable lot. The LTPOA building regulations require a minimum 40,000 sq ft for a buildable lot. The LTPOA board has no intention of changing this building regulation. The Restrictions specifically state that Rules and Regulations may be prescribed by the LTPOA from time to time, and, when adopted, they shall be binding upon all lot owners.  
From the anon. letter:
"Once again, concerned residents of Lake Tishomingo are forced to question the actions of the current trustees, LTPOA. We contend that having the treasurer of our Lake Community also acting as president of PWSD #13 is in conflict with our interests. Thousands of our assessment dollars have been transferred to support the formation of this public district without your vote. Also, the transfer of subdivision property without your vote and without compensation for the subdivision is wrong. This is supposed to be a public water & sewer district, not a private one! The District might have the right to condemn and take the property by eminent domain, however, this would result in fair monetary compensation to the subdivision. These proceeds might be used to fund other projects to our mutual benefit, resulting in lower subdivision dues, and might negate the need for special assessments."
Lake Tish property owners do receive compensation -- they get a community sewer in exchange for transferring the property to PWSD#13.
>From the anon. letter:
"Now an attempt is being made to dupe you into freely signing away your property and electrical easements without compensation. Remember, the above mentioned ‘Dortch’ ruling declared null and void the assertions made by LTPOA or PWSD #13. Ask yourself if the district feels they already have the easements, why are they attempting to intimidate you with legal actions if you don’t comply? You are entitled to fair compensation for these property easements, don’t give them away!" 
Homeowners do not have to sign the electrical easement agreement for the project to move forward. All the easement agreement does, is allow the placing of a control box on the homeowner's house. This gives the homeowner more control over the placement of the control box, which will lead to a more visually appealing installation.
From the anon. letter:
"In closing, we have witnessed the recent devastating effects on our economy and financial future when greed and special interests are put before the common good. The governing bodies involved in this project are attempting to intimidate you with false statements and deceit. A system that was originally supposed to cost between $35 and $55 per month with FREE / NO COST hookup is currently at $72 with NO guaranteed free hookup! With this track record, what confidence do we have that when the sewer system finally goes online, cost overruns, mismanagement and other factors won’t quickly raise our monthly bill to over $100?" 
"Do NOT be intimidated by false statements about deteriorating lake water quality, when every test to date has found NO problems. Do NOT sign away your property rights without just compensation for electrical and property easement." 
PWSD#13 is not asking for property easements, only a narrowly-defined electrical easement. And the homeowner does not need to sign that for the project to move forward.
From the anon. letter:
"With unemployment soaring towards double-digits, and the possibility of unprecedented inflation just around corner, do you feel comfortable adding what will amount to over $800, at the current projected costs, to your annual budget? This constitutes an amount equal to or greater than the annual subdivision dues many of us are currently assessed. This would be for a public sewer system for which there is no demonstrated need and whose monthly fees PWSD #13 can’t quantify with any certainty!" 
"Don’t forget the additional costs of compliance with state / county regulations requiring you to spend another $1500 to properly decommission your old septic system. These requirements were verified by the county and the costs confirmed by three randomly-selected septic repair companies from the Jefferson County Yellow Pages."
Tishomingo News (Jan/Feb, 2009, p. 10) states "the old tank will be pumped out and filled with sand – this expense will be the district’s responsibility."
Here's what the "JEFFERSON COUNTY ON-SITE SEWAGE TREATMENT CODE 2003" says:
101.5 Abandoned systems. All abandoned treatment tanks and seepage pits shall have the contents pumped and discarded in an approved manner. The top or entire tank shall be removed and the remaining portion of the tank or excavation shall be immediately filled with sand.
We're certain PWSD #13 can find someone to do this for less than $1500 for this service.
From the anon. letter:
"A recent survey of other local community sewer costs demonstrate that were are being asked to pay far too much for our system. Example; Lake Wauwanoka $31 a month for sewer, Valle Lake $45 per month for sewer & unlimited amount of water, Fenton area $33 per month for sewer. Lake Monowese $30 per month. Rock Creek Public Sewer $21 per month. Had LPTOA and PWSD #13, not rushed to get this installed and waited until a larger population of the defined watershed been included, our collective costs would have surely been lower, don’t believe the current cost will ever go down! "
These systems were all built many, many years ago when capital, materials and labor were a lot cheaper. Also, restrictions on treatment plant outflow get tighter each year. If we wait another 10 years and are forced by MO DNR to put in a community sewer, we're going to say that $72 would have been a great price! 
And why do all of these above-mentioned lakes/communities have community sewers, if private septics are fine? Some people are just against progress. They would also argue against better roads, fixing the dam, and lowering the lake to remove silt to make the whole lake usable.
And let's look at the phrase "Had LPTOA and PWSD #13, not rushed to get this installed." The most recent LT sewer committee was formed in 2003. If things go as planned it will be 2011 before a community sewer is a reality at LT. That's 8 years. How can that be considered "rushed?" 
From the anon. letter: 
"The time to act to preserve your properly functioning private septic system is NOW, before you are duped into connecting to a misrepresented and unnecessary PUBLIC utility. If there are failing individual septic systems in or around the lake, then repair them, we’ve had enough bailouts! Check the facts as presented in this letter for yourself, and come to the April 4th meeting prepared to ask tough questions: "
"1. Show us the results of the water quality samples that support the contention of deteriorating lake water quality." 
The results of the water quality testing have been published in Tishomingo News. Several coves had E. coli results above the state water quality standard of 126 colonies per 100 ml.
We assume this question is being asked because the writer wants to wait until lake water quality consistently tests bad before thinking about installing sewers. It's taken us five years to get where we are today. Who wants to take a chance of going without the use of the lake for five years? Do you want to go thru this process again? Are you in favor of giving up $2 million in grants?
From the anon. letter:
"2. Give us a written guarantee of the final costs of monthly service and the free connections you have promised with each sales pitch until now!"
No one can give that guarantee at this stage of the project. The design is not complete; bids have not been received. All we can do is work to keep the cost as low as possible while still installing a good quality system. Can anyone guarantee what a gallon of milk will cost in 6 months?
From the anon. letter:
"3. Demand that PWSD #13 return our subdivision dues, and pay just compensation for transferred subdivision property!"
Lake Tish property owners will receive compensation -- they will get a community sewer in exchange for transferring the property to PWSD#13. 
It's similar to the situation of a homeowner not being compensated by AUE for allowing AUE to place an electric meter on his house. The homeowner gives up a square foot on the side of his house and in return he gets the benefit of buying electricity from AUE.
From the anon. letter:
"4. Insist on fair compensation for your property easements." 
PWSD#13 is not asking for property easements, only a narrowly-defined electrical easement. And the homeowner does not need to sign that for the project to move forward.
From the anon. letter:
"Lastly, a reputable local law firm specializing in eminent domain/condemnation law stands ready to collectively represent those who wish to contest the assertions made by LPTOA and PWSD #13.  -- Concerned Lake Tishomingo Property Owners”

In conclusion, we believe that the purpose this anonymous letter with its collection of unrelated complaints, is designed to discredit the PWSD#13 and LTPOA boards and disrupt the installation of a community sewer at Lake Tishomingo. We've tried to answer these questions truthfully and demonstrate that they are exaggerations, inflammatory scare tactics, or simply false.
If you like the progress that this community has made in the last five years, please support your community sewer.