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Public Works committee approves draft cost-sharing approach to treat Rapid Valley sewer accounts
Summary
The Rapid City Public Works Committee approved item 7 after staff explained a proposed discount for Rapid Valley Sanitary District accounts, citing the district’s responsibility for billing and collection infrastructure and significant state participation in the water reclamation project.
The Rapid City Public Works Committee approved a motion on Feb. 11 to move forward with the item addressing cost-sharing with Rapid Valley Sanitary District for use of the city’s water reclamation facility.
The issue matters because the state is providing the majority of financing for the city’s water reclamation project and has asked the city to establish an equitable cost-sharing arrangement for all customers served by the facility.
Daniel Ainsley, speaking for the finance department and in his capacity as interim public works director, told the committee the discount being offered to Rapid Valley customers reflects costs the city does not incur. “They have about 4,400 accounts,” Ainsley said. He explained Rapid Valley bills those accounts directly and owns the collection lines that feed into Rapid City’s system, so the city does not perform billing or local collection for those customers. “On average, about 30% of our wastewater costs are from billing, and they are also from the collection system. So given that those two items are not required for these customers, it did seem appropriate to discount it by that same 30%,” he said.
Ainsley also told the committee the sanitary district agreed in principle that if future surcharges are applied to pay for infrastructure tied to the reclamation facility, Rapid Valley would share in those charges; he noted that provision is not yet in the current agreement. City staff and the committee framed the discount as an effort to balance Rapid City account holders’ interests with those of Rapid Valley customers while recognizing the state’s conditional financing.
Committee members had no further substantive changes on the record; the motion to approve item 7 carried. The committee did not record a named mover or a roll-call tally in the meeting transcript; the vote was announced by voice as passing.
The matter will return to the City Council later with the full agreement and the state-required documentation for final action and any contract signatures.
