An Open Letter to the Residents of Hallsville Concerning Your Sewer Bill

You think your sewer bill is high now? Well, ask yourself, How high will it go if Hallsville city leaders follow through with a multi-million dollar fix for a problem that could be solved for much less? A recent increase of nearly 25% in the sewer bills of Hallsville residents has caused considerable public concern. One reason cited for this increase was to pay fines imposed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Apparently the City attempted to blame these fines on the Martin family in recent newspaper and TV reports. These reports were not only inaccurate, but they contained false statements and allegations about who was to blame for the imposition of DNR fines. We wish to present our side of the story. In the early 1980s, the Martin family made significant land and financial contributions to the City of Hallsville so that the City could qualify for state and federal funding to build the current land application system. Since that time the Martin family has managed and maintained the Citys irrigation equipment, providing all labor and paying all insurance, electricity costs, and repairs. From a population of 850 in 1980, to 1491 in 2010, the City of Hallsville has seen a 75% growth rate, with 52% of that growth since 2000. However, during this time there was no expansion made to the Citys wastewater land application system. Three years of extreme rainfall coupled with an already too small storage cell led to DNR fines for wastewater discharge. The discharge violations that DNR found were not a result of anything that the Martin family did. For example, DNRs operating permit does not allow irrigation of wastewater on saturated soils. Yet, the Martin family was pressured repeatedly by City officials to irrigate when the soil was saturated or near saturation. It is our opinion that the DNR fines were a result of excessive rainfall, an inadequate storage lagoon, and an antiquated and leaking sewer tile system in the older part of Hallsville. Centralia, Hallsvilles close neighbor to the north, has over 10 times Hallsvilles storage capacity, with just 2.7 times its population. Centralia then pumps its water through 13.5 miles of pipe to three farmers who irrigate through 12 center pivots. It is apparent that the City of Hallsville needs 1) additional storage lagoon capacity 2) additional land application area, and 3) repairs made to reduce rainwater seeping into old clay sewer lines, causing the storage cell to fill up more rapidly. The Hallsville city leaders solution to the problem was to file a lawsuit to condemn 148.5 acres of the Martin familys most productive irrigated farmland by the use of eminent domain. They plan to turn this productive cropland, containing one of the two center pivots already distributing the Citys wastewater, into a sewer wastewater depository. According to the October 12th issue of the Centralia Guard the Citys plan is estimated to cost up to three million dollars when complete. The Citys plan does not address either of the first two deficiencies listed above, and may result in additional DNR fines for runoff caused by over-irrigation on the 120 acres of tight clay-pan soil (the irrigated portion of the 148.5 acres) during the wet spring months.

However, it does not need to cost millions of dollars to fix the Citys wastewater disposal problem. For approximately $400,000, storage capacity could be doubled by expanding the Citys current storage lagoon and adding another irrigation system. The Martin family has offered to incur all the costs of installing and operating a third center pivot irrigation system on additional farmland they own. The additional storage capacity would allow the wastewater to be held, without discharge, until the summer months when the land could absorb the water. The addition of a third pivot would bring the total irrigated acres to 460. The Citys leaders rejected this proposal. The financial consequences of spending millions of dollars as opposed to $400,000 would be very burdensome to Hallsville households and would make the recent sewer rate increase seem small in comparison. If your pocketbook and property rights matter to you, now is the time to let your voice be heard! At any time three of the five members of the Hallsville City Council can vote to stop the lawsuit to condemn the Martin familys land, and to pursue a proven, more environmentally sound, and far less expensive option. Hallsvilles elected city leaders are as follows: Mayor Ben Austene, Aldermen Mickey Nichols, Lori Thunhorst, Carl Daly, and Jeff Leverenz.