Utility Increase Public Comment from Ryan BowmanAimee Brunckhorst
From: Ryan Bowman <ryansw@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2020 6:07 PM
To: Kalispell City Council
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Water and Sewer Increase
Hello,
I live at 144 Lupine Drive.
I read the letter you sent out about the W+S rate increases.
This is the craziest thing I have ever seen; that is not a small increase, it is HUGE -- DOUBLE! It honestly makes me want
to move out of the city, it will have a negative impact on my family. We are a family of 5, with a large-ish yard, and
these increases are going to be felt. I guess everyone will just have to stop watering their lawns now?
This is very frustrating because I know that a) hook-up and other fees to your system are very expensive, and those fees
should have been used to upgrade systems as the town grew. b) If a proposed subdivision would put too big of a strain
on the system, and funds were not gathered to upgrade the system, it should not have been approved. This is a classic
example of poor city planning now causing a huge issue. How was it that it took until 2020 for this "study" to be done,
and determine that the W+S system is completely underfunded?? How is it that there are more and more people
paying, and there was enough money in the past, but now there isn't?
I have a feeling that funds were not used responsibly in the past. And, I don't trust they will be used responsibly in the
future when the prices DOUBLE! Seriously, you are now charging 1/2 of what it takes to run this system? There is no
way that can be true. There are going to be many people getting rich off this, probably engineering firms.
I already get very few city services. Sidewalks don't get fixed, I have to pay a private company for garbage pickup. The
parks are not great. I had to pay to put in trees, that the city owns, and I am responsible to care for them -- including
watering them!
I am really disappointed about this, it seems like government waste and mismanagement at it's finest. I expect my
comments will make no difference, but I felt compelled to share my thoughts on this.
Thank you,
Ryan Bowman
ryansw@gmail.com