To the Editor:
I commend The Times and reporter Barry Stringfellow for the excellent reporting of the Oak Bluffs Wastewater Commission meeting with a number of the largest wastewater users (Nov. 6, “Oak Bluffs business owners question sewering policies”). I was not at the meeting because of a previously scheduled doctor’s appointment. I would like to add a “PS” to the article.
I have been a wastewater commissioner since the creation of the Commission and was very involved in developing the formula for computing the usage rates. There were two guidelines at play: to generate enough fees to cover the budget, and to select a fair and reasonable minimum fee for the very small users, those who come for only one or two weeks per year.
The graduated formula we agreed on set the minimum fee at $400/ year, for usage up to 40,000 gallons/year. A two-bedroom house is assumed to use 75 gallons per day per bedroom, or a total of 150 gallons per day, and 1,000 gallons/week. Over two weeks, the formula assumes usage of about 2,000 gallons; for a four-week vacation it would assume 4,000 gallons.
We felt that the $400 minimum was as high as we could go without being very unfair. As we calculated the effects of reducing the minimum usage allowance, or increasing the minimum fee, we found that the benefit to the large user was very small because there are so many of them, and the cost to the small user was very large.
I trust that this will help clarify your users’ understanding of the current rate structure.
Robert Iadicicco
Oak Bluffs
(Mr. Iadicicco is a member of the wastewater commission)