Shenandoah Iowa Water Plant Still a Hot Debated Topic

Shenandoah, Iowa, is nestled in the southwest corner of Iowa smack dab in the middle of the United States and in the very heart of the budding algae energy industry.  Shenandoah has been battling an aging water plant which now numbers in excess of 75 years of age.  The debate is two-fold and is probably common with any community who has or will yet build a new water plant.  These debates are:

1. Do we need a new water plant?  Originally this was the heated topic.  To help in the public decision open tours were offered and given to many people.  After all, it's their tax dollars holding up the walls.  Many people realized how degraded a 75 year-old facility can get and most agreed that a new water plant is necessary to ensure safe and secure water supply for residents and industry for generations to come.  To this day there are those here and there who still refuse the idea of a new water plant in Shenandoah, and would rather suffer the increasing cost of maintaining the existing water plant.
2. Spending into oblivion!  Now that the community agrees that a water plant is going to be built the focus has turned toward how City funds are being used in the study and construction of the water plant facility.  This is good and keeps city officials in check.  Many now see a lot of dollar signs flying out the window and are getting antsy at how the project is being paid for.  I assure you, we as a City Council feel it to.

This project has been raging since before I took office as Councilman At Large and continues today on into the foreseeable future.  The debate has not been the stumbling blocks.  We've had some very stressful events and findings that have ratcheted the overall cost of the project.  So far some of these have been figured into the contingency of the overall budget.  #2 still remains and was used as a scepter against my own YouTube video explaining my position on the matter at a recent City Council meeting.

Not all government is corrupt.  There are those of us out there who genuinely want to serve the public.  Were it not so we would have pursued a resolution to raise Council compensation which currently is below the average standard.  We aren't here for money or fame.  We are here because we've been entrusted to make decisions on behalf of the taxpayer as stewards of their tax dollars.  In fact, this most recent Council meeting a resolution to raise compensation fell dead because no Council member opted to even make the motion.  That alone should tell the public volumes as to our intent.

At a recent Council meeting a resident came forth and addressed the City Council as privileged as a Shenandoah tax payer.  He specifically referred to the latter half of the video above.  In it I encourage the public to accept the possibility that water rates may rise in order to secure this water plant.  It's nothing out of the ordinary as most communities do the same with such projects.  Furthermore, in the video I try to establish a possible solution to the burden of the water bill.  

The solution lies in personal finance.  The city of Shenandoah needs a new water facility.  Once that is accepted then the only real avenue toward establishing happiness in your own water utilities bill is your own personal budget.  Where there is a clear necessity, all the complaining in the world will not solve the hardships placed on the tax payer.  This is especially true when complaints are offered but no real solutions presented as was the case at this meeting.  At this juncture the council has heard the rage of "tax mismanagement" and still left with greater knowledge of the options than the resident.  Why?  Because the resident (who has every right under the Constitution of the United States to complain) has not taken the time to attend open forum and public meetings to acquire information and ask questions.  

Anyhow, this resident took great offense to my proposal to help people help themselves in this time of hardship and referred to my video twice in his impassioned argument.  Again, that is his right and I applaud him for taking an action that most would not.  As a response I prepared this blog post and submitted my own video rebuttal:

Yes, water rates must be raised in order to accommodate this water facility.  Water rates were raised once in order to provide a minimal "cushion" to help pay for initial expenses associated with the water project and to claim down our loan from the State.  However, the recent drought and lowered water consumption failed to funnel the needed and planned revenues to carry out this plan.  So now we are here........

At the risk of being shunned completely I will say it again.  Each of us has the power to procure happiness in our lives.  If we make our lives unhappy over the burden of a water bill then we need to take a closer look at the root of what makes us unhappy.  Nobody likes to pay more for things but I do have a few questions for you.  Do you have cable television?  Do you drive so much that you might be able to trim it up each month?  Are you able to scale back that one extra trip to the fast food joint?  Is there anything in your life that isn't absolutely vital to your well-being that you could scale back just a little bit?

If the answer to any of these questions is "yes" then I promise you that if you put this plan into action, you will find a lot more funds available than those needed for a simple water bill.

I don't speak for the federal government and I don't even speak for the State government.  However, as an elected official of Shenandoah, Iowa, I do say with much sorrow that water rates need to be raised at this time.  Yes, the plan does include additional hikes in the future.  These are the hard sacrifices that must be asked on the part of the tax payers of Shenandoah in order to perpetuate this project forward.  We do it reluctantly and we do it knowing it's unpopular.

I have tried to live my life and focus my actions to one ideal:  Any organization that does not require  sacrifice on the part of it's members isn't worthy of it's membership.

Any worthy community is built up by people who are willing to place happiness in their lives and to also sacrifice their time, talents, compassion, counsel and even funds for the betterment of that community.  Shenandoah is a worthy community and we as your elected officials are asking you to accept this necessary project and do all you can to keep this project going.  Do so with an open mind thirsty for information that your decisions may be justified.