Dothan to meet again with surrounding towns, reach sewage conclusion

It’s about to hit the fan.

Dothan Mayor Pat Thomas says city officials will meet with the mayors of several surrounding towns in 30 days with hopes of determining the future of sewage rates for the respective communities.

“We met with them about 30 days ago and said we would get together in 60 days, and what we were going to talk with them about is whether they want to be customers and pay the cost of treatment plus 30 percent or become equity partners and then just have the operating costs,” Thomas said.

Residents of towns and communities surrounding Dothan, including Kinsey, Taylor, Napier Field, Midland City and Cowarts, had been charged $1.05 per 1,000 gallons of sewage treated, which Dothan claims was only about 15 percent of the cost to treat it.

“Our cost of service is $2.47, and if you’re paying $1.05 for it, someone else is making up the diference. In this case, the citizens of Dothan were making up the difference in the cost,” said Dothan Utilities Director Billy Mays.

Some of the surrounding communities have been losing money on the treatment as well.

“We’ve lost approximately $24,000 within the past 11 months with the treatment of the sewage, and the town cannot continue to lose money, just as Dothan can’t afford to continue to lose money. I don’t believe it’s fair that we have to depend on our water to help pay for the sewer treatment,” said Taylor Mayor Joel Napier.

In a meeting last month, Dothan officials offered local mayors a few options.

“We have a proposal we’re working through that allows some type of equity interest (in the treatment plant) they could be part of, or they could be part of a 10-year contract as customers or a month-to-month contract with considerably higher rates,” Mays said.

The 10-year binding contract has been a point of contention for towns such as Taylor and Kinsey, as the terms leave open the option for Dothan to raise rates at anytime.

According to Mays, the contract’s terms are no different than those of the previous agreement the towns had with the city.

“They had a 25-year contract that did the same thing before, so I don’t think that’s an argument,” Mays said.

Napier says his town is likely to build its own plant rather than continue relying on Dothan’s support.

“We’re in process of doing the study with the city of Dothan to see how much it would take for all the municipalities involved, what would be the equitable part we could go in on a new treatment plant, but I feel we will (build our own),” Napier said.

One thing is for sure, however—sewage rates are going to be higher throughout the area.

“Sewage rates in all these communities and Dothan will be higher because of everything we’re having to do now, higher government regulations, tougher standards and a $46 million infrastructure that we’re about to have to put in place,” Thomas said.