CORKY HAS A PET PROJECT TOO

I have now heard from two sources that the City's new "sustainability manager", Earth Tech hireling Corky Overmyer, has plan to bring to heel you despoilers of Mother Earth who have the unmitigated gall to use city water to sprinkle your lawns and water your gardens.  (Yours truly numbers among you miscreants with the lush verdant expanse of my Heritage Hill lawn amid the dry tawny scrub of my neighbors.)

You see, like the mayor, Corky has a pet project too.  He wants us to use rainwater rather than city water on our lawns and gardens.  Now Corky will tell you that he doesn't want to force anyone to do this.  He would prefer to encourage us to do so.  Well, that may be true if you consider holding a gun to someone's head to do something is a form of encouragement.  What Corky wants to do is start charging all of us a "rain tax", which he would graciously waive for those of us who put a stormwater collection facility in our backyards.

I doubt those extra pots and pans in the cupboard laid out on the back forty will meet Corky's standards.  And for those of you who are thinking, aren't we already paying sky-high water and sewer rates for all those new stormwater sewers the city has been installing, you are really missing the point.  Either you pay the city a rain tax or you pay for a collector on your property, which Corky's boss, Earth Tech, will be happy to help you with to justify its six-figure annual contract with the city.  The only flow that matters is not rainwater from your home to the river, but the dollars in your wallet to the coffers of the city and Earth Tech.

Comments

[Steve Smith]

Not again! Mary Milanowski, where are you? I can't wait for Corky to impose this scheme on the suburban customers of the GR water system, too! Just think, another reason to move away from the city!

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Steve.

"Not again" is right. The city had this bright idea before, but it got nowhere. I'll be surprised if Corky's rain tax even gets serious consideration by the City Commission.

Of course, if Corky's going to be devising lame schemes like this, that raises the question of why the City Commission agreed in the first place to hire him for $150K a year.

Regards, Bill

[Steve Goulet]

Bill,

Do you have a link or a reference to a document that discusses Corky's intention to charge a "rain tax"? Or is that just your opinion of where this is headed?

Thanks!

--Steve

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Steve G.

As I opened this story, I heard of this from two different sources. I'll confirm that Overmyer discussed this with each of them, and it exactly isn't a secret that Overmyer thinks a rain tax would be good policy for the city.

Regards, Bill

[Steve Goulet]

I agree that it's a bad idea to charge a tax. My strategy would be to provide a tax break or some other incentive instead of punishing with a tax.

On the whole you've got to admit that rainbarrels are smart and efficient: http://www.harvesth2o.com/rainbarrel101.shtml

What a waste to let all your rain water flow down a sewer and then use filtered water instead. But if you want to go on wasting money and costing the city extra water, you are free to pursue that ideology instead. Have fun...

--Steve

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Steve G.

Yes, you're probably right that carrots work better than sticks. Although I think the best incentive is simply to reduce the cost of your water bill by using less. If that's not enough to motivate people, I'm not sure how an incentive will work better.

As for rain barrels, I'm not exactly sure how one's choice concerning water sources boils down to ideology, but the barrels are OK. Of course, if there's enough rain to fill them for sprinkling the lawn, then you probably don't need to sprinkle. Besides, at my place in Heritage Hill, most of the run-off already stays on my property. Elsewhere, we use a well (one of the few within the city limits) to water the lawn.

Regards, Bill