John Murphy, Hopewell Township
If you have not noticed, the opponents of the sewer bond ordinance have given up their false arguments that there is no need for sewers.
They know without a sewer contract we will be subject to catastrophic development. Instead, their new misleading argument is the township bought double the capacity we need.
According to them, the township went to ELSA and said we only need $2 million in capacity, but why don’t we buy $4 million because we’re idiots.
The truth is ELSA wanted a lot more than $4 million, but eventually conceded anything less than $4 million, and ELSA could not buy the brick and mortar needed to expand its facility for the needed Hopewell sewer capacity.
Having successfully negotiated the capital costs of $4 million, the township then successfully negotiated a low usage fee of $15/gallon that all current and future users of the sewers would pay. ELSA wanted a much higher usage fee.
For an example of how high it could be, there are residents in a current Hopewell development that ELSA is charging $45 per gallon!
Here the math: $4 million divided by $15/gallon usage fee equals 266,700 gallons of use over which the township has complete control now and in the future because we own it.
According to the sewer opponents, we should have pay $30/gallon so there should be no reserve capacity for residents who might need it in the future and the residents who need it right now would pay double the usage fee.
There is not an economist in the world that will tell you it is better to pay more for less. Nor should the residents of Hopewell Township.
Please vote “yes” May 8.
John Murphy
Hopewell Township
