School board to pay for sewer
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on April 17, 2016 1:45 AM
After a nearly four-hour meeting Tuesday afternoon -- the bulk of it spent in closed session -- Wayne County Board of Education tentatively approved a request from the town of Fremont to foot a $114,508 sewer bill attributed to issues at three schools in the northern end of the county.
The spike in sanitation services, primarily at Charles B. Aycock High, Norwayne Middle and Northeast Elementary schools, have been "going on a while" at great cost to the town, said Fremont Mayor Darron Flowers, Town Administrator Barbara Aycock and Finance Director Shameshia Fennell.
"Fremont has been absorbing this for years," Ms. Aycock said, estimating it has occurred for the duration of the two and one-half years she has been in the role. "I have been actively working to solve this problem.
"It has financially broke Fremont with problems like this."
After a lengthy study and several recommendations -- including a trench at Aycock and sewer meters installed at Norwayne in May 2015, some of the issues have been alleviated.
But the "biggest culprit" has been at Northeast Elementary, Ms. Fennell said.
"When it rains (there) you have higher bills," she said. "There's a major sewer line problem. We are still looking but haven't pinpointed the problem."
Between 2012 and 2015, the representatives said there had been ongoing revenue loss for the town of Fremont.
At Northeast, where enrollment is around 740, "they'll use 12,000 to 15,000 gallons of sewer (services) a day and that's extremely high," Ms. Fennell said.
Billing adjustments were actually made to be fair to both the district and the town, Ms. Fennell said.
"I think it's pretty evident we owe you much more, over the period of time we have had the problem," said Board Chairman Chris West.
Board member Eddie Radford asked how much the bill should be.
"I would say a half million dollars if you went back 10 or 11 years. I would say it would be close to that," Ms. Aycock said. "I didn't even go back that far."
Board member Jennifer Strickland wondered "whose fault is it" and asked whether there was any sort of contract existing between the district and the town.
WCPS Superintendent Dr. Michael Dunsmore said he was unaware of one, but it would be in order.
Flowers said between construction efforts and sewer lines being run between the schools, there had to have been paperwork tying it all together but that was before his time in office.
"I am absolutely not against paying you," Mrs. Strickland pointed out. "I don't have any problem with paying bills.
"However, I'm still very interested in what that initial contract is -- is this something that is the school system's responsibility to keep up with it or is it yours?"
Flowers said he did not disagree with her, but did disagree with the sentiment.
"On our side of the fence we have historically charged for water usage with the assumption that the owner has the sewer lines in good repair," he said. "I would argue to you that it was your responsibility to keep your sewer lines in good order."
He praised town staff with devoting extra time and effort into investigating and dealing with the issue that had financially plagued the town in recent years.
"We feel very comfortable in telling you that we feel that we have been overly fair in what we have shown and we feel that we're within (the statutes)," he said. "I sincerely believe you have some problems at Northeast Elementary that need to be addressed."
Board member Arnold Flowers initially made a motion to direct the schools' finance officer, Michael Hayes, to determine where funds are available, then return his findings to the finance committee and bring it back to the full board at its May meeting.
For lack of a second, the motion failed as the board discussed a more efficient and immediate response to the request.
Hayes said he would investigate options from where to draw upon local funds.
Arnold Flowers revised his motion toward paying the bill, requesting Hayes bring his findings to the finance committee for approval.
Mrs. Strickland reiterated her stance that she did not want anyone to think she was against paying the bill but still had some concerns about how the calculations were derived.
"I think we should pay them. I know it will pass but I'm uncomfortable with how we came up with the numbers," she said.
When put to a vote, hers was the only dissenting vote.