Polk City is already on the verge of bankruptcy with a debt of $10.4 Million dollars, with only a little over 900 households to pay for it. How can a city with so much debt qualify for an additional $2.8 Million Dollar loan in today's terrible economy? If this loan is being used to pay off the county debt on the Mt. Olive spray field, and to purchase land for expanding the Temporary Cardinal Hill WWTF, it will severely impact the future financial picture of the city, especially if the city will be dissolved or file for bankruptcy. This will become a third party loan which is added to the city's debt and will have to be divided amongst the taxpayers of the city.
This would not be the case if the spray field debt was still owed to the county. The county would take possession of the spray field, the issue of the county forgiving the debt is not out of the question, since they would be in possession of the assets and regain the utility customer base as a source of revenue. The city would not be stuck with the property where the Cardinal Hill WWTF is located if it didn't own the land, and the plant would just have to be dismantled. By purchasing the land and expanding the Cardinal Hill facility, the city is taking ownership of all its debt which has to be repaid by the taxpayers. Were the city to be dissolved, who would buy this facility? The county doesn't want it, since they would probably consider hooking up to the Auburndale sewer facility at a much lower rate. The city taxpayers will be stuck with this facility, and its debt.
This administration is dragging us from the frying pan into the fire, with no fire extinguisher nearby. How can the City Council just stand by and let this happen? It is irresponsible! This city's financial condition is worsening every time more money is borrowed, more for each city taxpayer to pay now or later.
If the city really cared about the future of Polk City, they should approach Auburndale about making a deal to hook up to their sewer system so we can dismantle the Temporary Cardinal Hill Plant, and eventually reroute the Mt. Olive WWTF as well. The County has already made it clear they have every intention of taking back the Mt. Olive WWTF. The County chose to take this action to seek financial relief for the utility customers who are being unfairly treated. They recognize the financial distress we are in and are trying to help. By taking on this additional debt of this new loan, the City leadership is demonstrating that they are incompetent and don't care for the future of its citizens. They are obsessed with pushing their own agenda, much like the previous administration. It is like a game to them to see how they can try to outsmart the opposition with no regard for long term consequences. If the city gets out of the sewer business, maybe Polk City can even stay a city and get back to being the sleepy town it once was. Stop this big city dream!
Don't forget the City bought and still owes the DEP for the property purchased on Smith/Barfield road for the "pie in the sky" wastewater plant that never was. The City should dismantle the interim plant on Steven Drive. This would eliminate the pending litigation from the residents on Steven Drive, and the cost of buying the property.
ReplyDeleteRemember the City has an agreement with one of the residents as well as the owner of the property to have the plant removed by 2012, also there is no assurances the DEP will permit this plant to remain in operation because:
1. The permit was issued in direct violation of FAC 62-604
2. The DEP and the DCA has a copy of the agreement with the resident that states the plant will be removed in 2012.
3. The expansion of the plant will require re-permitting. In my opinion this will not sit well with the residents of Steven Drive who will be forced to annex into the City and abandon their drinking water wells. This will only stall the permit process and cost the taxpayers more $$$$ in litigation.
Once the interim plant is dismantled, and the flow diverted to the Mount Olive plant the City can return the operating cost to the sewer fund there by reducing the rates to its Citizens. The interim physical plant can then be sold, it is a package plant, and can be moved. This money can either be returned to the sewer fund or utilized to upgrade the Mount Olive facility. It is my opinion the City needs to abandon all involvement in the utility business and do the the moral, ethical, and fiscaly responsable things the Citizens needs.
This new loan just baffles my mind. Here you have a city that is just barely afloat financially and their borrowing almost 3 million dollars; who in their right mind at BB&T would approve such a loan and what in the world does Polk City possess that they could use as collateral for such a loan? Everything they own is mortgaged to the hilt and they still owe the county half a million dollars, and I'm going to say it because somebody should, I blame the citizens of Polk City. They stood by and let Cory Carrier and Don Penton bury the city in debt and not one person even questioned the fact that they were having a romantic relationship while he was her boss and suppose to be overseeing her work. Either she should have quit or he should have resigned when it started. Not to mention that you had a City Manager, Asst. City Manager, City Clerk, Finance Manager, Utility Manager, and so on and so on making large salaries for such a small city. If anybody had bothered to read the engineering study that was conducted when the city wanted to buy the Mt Olive system they should have known it was based upon growth numbers that Polk City has never achieved in its history, and it is just now your all mad as hell? You should have been mad as hell years ago when this mess started. Shame on you all for sleeping at the switch! As a Mt Olive resident I too am mad as hell at the entire city of Polk City and I want the county to take our utility back and the city to just go away.
ReplyDeleteThe citizens of Polk City were never presented with all the facts when all these decisions were made by Carrier and Penton in the past. If the citizens dared to question them, they were told to "get their facts straight". "You don't know what you're talking about". The council just rubber stamped all the decisions made. The same thing is happening now. When council members Adorno and Kimsey voted on this loan on Oct. 25th, they had no clue that it was a loan for almost 3 million dollars, but Trudy & Joe knew exactly what they were doing! The resolution was not printed on the agenda, like it is usually done. It was not read in its entirety before council voted on it. It was a conspiracy by Trudy & Joe to pull a fast one while Councilman Blevin was on vacation. Council persons Adorno and Kimsey were not given straight answers when they questioned this loan. They had no clue they just voted for a $2.68 million loan, and this vote should be recalled. This borders on criminal intent.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact this was billed as housekeeping. The figure that was used was 350k to replace the payment made to the county for Mt olive plant, to the operating monies.
ReplyDeleteBlock kept saying its just restructuring debt. She did mention an additional 1M because the loan rate was such a good deal!!! Adorno said some vague statement likening this extra money being like a line of credit.????? It would only be used if really needed but available. What drug is she on?
Now the truth comes out 2.68M. They are lying to us all. What can we do? They have everyones vote in the bag except Don Kimsey. Sad , Sad, SAD.
streight to jail do not pass go, !!! enough of this,polk city was a nice town,
ReplyDeleteMaybe now is the time to start a RECALL process to get Adorno out. She is incompetent and has no idea what's going on. She's in Trudy & Joe's back pocket.
ReplyDelete