$4.5 million city bond on ballot
By DENNIS KUTAC REPORTER

Residents in Nederland will be heading to the polls to vote on a $4.5 million bond that would be used to fund the city's sewer line replacement program.

In January, Wimer told council members that they city's sewer line replacement program had experienced some delay due to Hurricane Rita and additional sewer line replacement would require the issuance of bonds to fund the project.

Wimer said the city staff had suggested a bond issue and in February council members approved the ordinance which called for a bond election.

Of this amount, $4.3 million would actually be used for construction costs and approximately $200,000 would be allocated for bond issuance and insurance costs.

"There are about 12 miles of concrete sewer line remaining to be replaced and right now those areas are susceptible to rain water infiltration problems," Wimer said.

According to city officials approximately three miles of lines can be replaced for $1 million.

Councilman Billy Neal said earlier this year that the money from this bond would be used strictly for sewer lines because of the way the ordinance is worded.

Wimer said the city's sewer lines are divided into five sections and are tested on a five year rotation to identify repairs needed in those areas. The systematic approach to check- ing their sanitary system for leaks through smoke testing began back in December.

"This election will give citizens the opportunity to choose on either an aggressive approach that would replace these lines all at once or allow the city to continue to replace sections on a year by year basis," Wimer said.

Wimer said there is no definite timeframe on this project should the bond pass, but anticipates that the city could bid the work to a contractor sometime in the fall and the actual work would last 18 to 24 months.

If approved by the voters, the tax increase would amount to approximately 4.5 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

The current tax rate is 59 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

Election Day Locations

Nederland City Hall, 1400 Boston Avenue, Nederland PN-GISD Administration, 620 Avenue C. West Groves Education Center, 5840 West Jefferson, Groves