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Local author asks sanitary board not to add trash service fees, raises concerns about sewer excavation
Summary
Rick Genser, speaking during public comment, urged the board not to impose trash service fees, said the district "has money," and warned about deep sewer excavation downtown possibly hitting an aquifer and causing flooding; the board thanked him and took no formal action.
Rick Genser, identifying himself as a "newsman/author," used his public comment time on Dec. 10 to urge the Board of Sanitary Commissioners against imposing service fees for trash collection and to raise safety and infrastructure concerns about sewer separation work downtown.
Genser told the board he did not support adding service fees: "We don't need to pay more for hardly anything." He said the sanitary district "always has money" and cited an amount of "over 10,000,000," which he presented as background for opposing new fees. Genser also pointed to a large excavation on High Street where crews are separating sewers and warned that past demolitions had been buried and that deep digging could breach an aquifer or otherwise destabilize downtown ground and utilities.
He referenced other ongoing utility work and local water-main repairs, saying he had spoken with the water company about problems at Walnut and Wiser and warning the board to be "cautious about not only what they're doing as far as digging up and trying to separate sewers." The board president thanked Genser; no formal response or action was taken during the meeting.
The statements above are attributable to Genser as spoken during public comment and reflect his claims and concerns; the transcript does not record technical or agency responses verifying his assertions.
