South Pittsburg OKs water, sewer rate study

photo Former South Pittsburg Mayor Mike Killian

SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - The City Commission voted unanimously this week to approve Resolution 925, which authorizes Mayor Mike Killian and City Recorder Mary Faye Payne to sign an agreement with the University of Tennessee's Municipal Technical Advisory Service for a study of its water and sewer rates.

City Utilities Manager Donald Blansett said the last such review was in 1988.

The analysis will tell city officials whether the rates are appropriate, City Administrator Bently Thomas said.

"It's something we need to do every few years, and it's something that MTAS has done for a while," he said. "With them being a governmental entity, I'd rather them do it than a private engineering firm."

Killian said if the resolution for the rate study had involved a private engineering firm, he would have voted against it.

"I realize that if we got a private engineering bunch to do this, there's no telling how much it would cost," he said. "It's just ridiculous some of the things I see [concerning costs from private engineering firms]."

Thomas said the MTAS study will cost the city no more than $3,000. A similar study done by a private engineering company could cost more than $50,000, he said.

"It could be much, much more," he said.

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