Why can’t the Town run more like a business? I know, I know, I’m hilarious but stay with me on this one.
Here is the scenario, Town Council votes to spend $120,000 on a new sani-dump. Annual interest payments alone on this expenditure will be $3,000 per year even at the Town’s preferred rates. A normal business person would try to find a money saving alternative that would cost less than the $3,000 interest annual payment.
I understand that there is already a private sani-dump at the Old Frontier. So what if, and here’s where it may get complicated to the politicians, we offer Matt $2,000 a year to make it free and publicly accessible. We could make a simple lawyer-less agreement that addresses standards and insurance. If it does not work out, then we would terminate the agreement and try something different next year. Alternatively, the Town could offer to pay the $2 dumping fee that they currently charge. Either way, we save at least $1000/year and avoid a new capital expenditure.
Although I haven’t done any fact checking, I’m sure that either the comprehensive study or one of the Council members brought this up as an alternative. Why then was it rejected? What baffles the average person is how you go from paying $2 a dump to spending $120,000? How do you go from a simple fix to a two Council meeting complicated engineered mess? This is an example of how the last three years have gone. Councillors are choosing the expensive routes.
Are Town administrators whispering in the ears of Councillors that it is against some archaic municipal rules about unfairly enhancing someone? How would the Town look if Matt spent the $2000 he earned from charging the Town for dumping sewage in the Town’s sewer system on a Mexican vacation? In my opinion it would make the Town look like heroes by running it like a business and saving their shareholders money.
In my opinion.
Your Arm Chair Mayor,
Peter Humphreys
