Stansbury Park board delays decision on adding Ovid connections after consultant presents cost and rate model

The Stansbury Park Improvement District board heard competing financial scenarios Wednesday about whether to allow outside connections from Ovid/OPA and tabled the decision until more data is available.

A consultant walked directors through an LRB model that compared system costs, impact-fee revenue and rates with and without adding Ovid connections. "So $12,000,000 roughly to get you to 2,700,000 gallons a day," the presenter said, describing the concept-level capital estimate to meet the district's design basis. The presenter added that upsizing one major concrete polishing reactor now would raise that near-term estimate to about $15,000,000 but could avoid higher retrofit costs later.

Board members pushed on how the model treated rates over time. One director said holding rates steady rather than lowering them in later years would show how much capital could be accumulated to pay down debt: "If we hold them steady, you'd know how much money you had paying off the debt," a board member said. Directors and staff also discussed that growth assumptions drive whether impact fees will cover future bonds: the model assumed impact-fee revenue of roughly $2,100 per treatment impact fee and a near 50/50 split of cost responsibility between existing ratepayers and new connections.

The board flagged several follow-ups before taking a formal vote: model runs that assume a flat rate schedule (no artificial mid-term rate reduction), integration of collection-system costs to show a combined customer bill, and clearer growth/ERU projections out to 2045. With those items requested, the board tabled the item to its next regular meeting on June 17.

The board did not take a final vote on adding Ovid connections at the May 20 meeting; directors asked staff to bring the revised spreadsheets and supporting assumptions back for review.