In case of an electrical outage, each home has the equivalent of 110 flushes of the toilet (150 gallons of storage – under normal usage should last several days). There will be one big pump station at the firehouse with a generator to run the station with enough of a diesel store to stay on line for four days. 

 

The electrical panel to be installed on each home hooked up is 10” square by 5” deep.  The location of the panel will be determined by the existing panel location or as determined by an electrician. PRCUA will use a licensed electrician, will pay for the county for the electrical permit fee, and will have all work inspected by the county inspector. The panel is a 220 volt “single phase” unit with an automatic back feed protector and will have a generator connection for property owners to plug in a generator (as little as a 5000 watt generator can run it) during electrical outages. This will allow the property owner to “pump down” the holding tank in an extreme emergency (think Katrina) where the system could be down for an extended period of time. It takes approximately 5 minutes to “pump down”.  For those individuals who are unable to do this whether because of health issues or lack of a generator, there will be a joint effort between the PRCUA to assist.

 

80 – 90% of all properties will be able to have their electrical panels hooked up for $250. The UA has allowed up to $750 per home; there will be a small percentage who will meet the $750 threshold and an even fewer homes which will exceed it.

 

Question: If I add on to my home and include additional bathroom facilities, will I need additional sewer work done? No, the current system they will be using will be sufficient for any non-commercial use.

 

Location of line and grinder pump coming into the property will be determined by the current location of the septic tank. It will be located very close to the septic tank so that they can tie into the interceptor line. Once they tie into that then the existing septic tank will be capped off. The will not pump, dig up or fill the septic tank although the owner may, at their own expense, do so. The septic tank will no longer be used.  In cases where the septic tank is located in a fenced back yard, smaller equipment may be used that will fit through the gate or a portion of the fence can be moved temporarily to access the area.  Any reasonable request from the property owner will be taken into consideration in determining placement of system. The only thing visible once completed will be the green lid which is approximately 24” x 5” protruding above ground and the panel which will be mounted on the side of the house. 

 

Question: If the grinder pump is not used for an extended period of time, will repriming be necessary? No.

 

Question: What is the $250 connection fee for? This is actually a “tap” fee. The standard tap fee is $400 but a discount is being offered to help the property owners in HAWL to hook up. It is a one time offer and after the deadline has passed; hookup would include the standard tap fee as well as the cost of the pump itself which would be around $4,000.

 

Question: Since the sewer bill will be based on water usage, will there be any allowances made for property owners who have a pool or sprinkler/irrigation system? No. This is standard practice for all the surrounding areas. However, there are guidelines in place for filling a pool. The property owner must notify the office to take a reading prior to filling the pool and then again after filling. Another way to separate the water and sewer usages is by having separate meters installed. However, there is much to be considered including the additional connection fee as well as the additional monthly fee. It would best to call the office and get a water usage history and do the math to determine if this would be a cost saving or added expense.

 

All paved surfaces will be bored under to limit disruption. There will be every effort made to avoid damaging roadways or driveways with the exception of location paint to be used to locate existing utilities.  The pipe is 1 ¼ inch in diameter and will be bored using an underground “vibratory plow”. Trees will be worked around whenever possible. It is important to remember that this is a heavy equipment project so there will be some disruption of utility services i.e. phone lines, cable services, water lines, etc. The UA will be responsible for all repairs and will work in conjunction with other utility providers to minimize this disruption; however, with broken water lines, there will be boil notices. For the grinder pump, a piece of equipment (such as a bobcat) with a 36” wide auger on the front will be used to dig the hole in which the pump will be placed.

 

Once completed, there will be no maintenance cost of upkeep on the part of the property owner other than the monthly bill of $25.25. The breakdown of the $25.25 is as follows: $16.25 for the first 4,000 gallons, $8.00 is for the pump, and there is a $1.00 for HAWL to process the sewer bills. The $16.25 is the standard rate that all surrounding areas pay. The $8.00 pump charge goes into an account for the eventual replacement of the pump. Although the expected life expectancy is 15 years or so, eventually the pump does have to be replaced. This charge is earmarked to do that in the future. The $1.00 which goes to HAWL is due to the fact that we will be processing the bills, payments, etc. as part of the monthly dues. This will require additional software updates as well as someone to implement those updates. HAWL will only pay UA what we receive from the property owner; however, in the case where a property owner is delinquent, HAWL will be required to turn off water service but this will work according to the guidelines already in place. The average cost of electrical use for the pump is $3 - $5 a month. This is a completely closed system. The lid is sealed and there are two check flow valves as well as two shut off valves to prevent back flow into the house. There is no maintenance required on these check valves.

 

The PRCUA will begin to lay lines in February…once this work is completed it won’t be operational until the treatment plant in Picayune is on line in October 2010 prior to service beginning expected completion date beginning expected completion date but billing isn’t expected to start until March or April of 2011.