The candidates’ forum was held Oct. 15 at Trinity City Hall. It was organized by the Archdale-Trinity Chamber of Commerce. County Commissioner Darrell Frye, a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, was the host.
City Council candidates who attended were Kristin Varner, Ward 1; incumbent Barry Lambeth, Ward 2; incumbent Karen Bridges, Mike Robertson and Robin Russell, Ward 3.
Debra Frazier, Ward 1, and Tommy Johnson, Ward 4, did not attend.
Moderator Diane Davis drew names to determine who would begin. Incumbent Councilwoman Karen Bridges of Ward 3 was selected. Davis asked her and the other candidates if they would continue with sewer installation. They also were asked to give their opinion of collaborating on a wastewater treatment center.
“The sewer money (from the bond referendum) did not go as far as it was supposed to, that was known to everybody from day one,” Bridges said.
However, she continued, the city has received several grants from the Rural Center to help make up the difference.
“We’ve been pretty frugal, we’ve stretched that money as far as it would go, but it’s the citizens of Trinity who are going to have to decide if they want to continue paying for sewer,” Bridges said.
A wastewater plant was part of the original sewer plans, Bridges added, and would be cheaper in the long run because pump stations cost $250,000 each. Those stations will continue to be needed as long as Trinity’s wastewater is treated by Thomasville, whereas with a treatment plant the city could use gravity lines and eliminate the need for pump stations.
“Who could guess the price of petroleum would go up so far?” Lambeth asked, his tone joking but his words serious. “The plastic pipe [sewer lines] we put in the ground is made of petroleum.”
All the costs went up, he continued, from concrete to labor to plastics. Now, however, prices are falling and bids are coming in thousands of dollars under budget. Still, that doesn’t make up for what the city had to pay to keep putting sewer in.
“Yes, we’ve gotten grants,” Lambeth acknowledged. “I think we’ve done well with what we’ve had, but it is up to the citizens.”
Lambeth also said, with regard to a wastewater treatment plant, “We don’t want to plan to fail. We’ve got to look at what we’re going to do later on, and that’s what this study is about.”
Kristin Varner agreed with Bridges and Lambeth on the need for a wastewater treatment plant, and added, “The citizens will have to vote on if they want to expand (sewer) anymore. I think Council has done a good job getting grants and stretching the dollar as far as they can, but bringing in new businesses will help pay for the sewer.”
Robertson, a challenger for Bridges’ seat, also conceded that the city had done well.
“The city has done a good job finding grant money for sewer and stretching the dollars,” Robertson acknowledged. “But in the long run the citizens of Trinity are going to have to decide whether or not they want to consider the program and make sewer available to everybody. We have to suck it up and make the hard decision.”
As for pump stations, “Gravity’s free, pump stations cost money,” Robertson said. “At some point with Thomasville’s capacity, and what we’re putting in there, they’re going to run out of capacity at their plant. Logically, why not work with Archdale and Randolph County to develop our own plant over here so everything is flowing downhill on this side? It just makes sense.”
However, not every candidate was as pleased with the way the city had developed the municipal sewer system. While Robin Russell agreed that another referendum was needed before any further sewer decisions were made, he differed from his fellow candidates in his reasoning.
“I can see some main trunk lines being put in by the city, then developers coming in and attaching to those lines for development,” Russell said. “There are areas where sewer is not 100 percent necessary. We are not Cary, we can’t develop Trinity into the fashion of Cary.”
One thing that bothered him, he added, was that residents are required to pay a tap fee and hook up to the sewer system once it’s close enough. He believes the fee could constitute a hardship in the current economy, and that those with working septic systems should not be required to utilize municipal sewer.
The city already has interest in Thomasville’s treatment plant, Russell added, but if the city is serious about growth then yes, it needs to develop a treatment facility.
The candidates also answered questions about their vision for the future of Trinity. Those responses will be included in the Oct. 29 edition of the NEWS.
Post a Comment
