Ringgold City Manager Dan Wright said last week he continues to discuss the proposed sewer rate increase from the city of Chattanooga along with other wastewater facility issues raised by Chattanooga over the past six months.
Ringgold provides sewer service for two-thirds of Catoosa County and maintains about 150 miles of sewer lines and several pump stations. The city opted in the early 2000s to contract with Chattanooga for treatment of Ringgold's wastewater.
The city of Chattanooga has proposed a 9.8% rate increase for all the municipalities it serves, including Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe.
"I will continue to crunch the numbers and then present it to the council to see where they want to go," said Wright, who told the council in July that the city can no longer absorb the annual increases from Chattanooga.
Since 2013, Chattanooga has been under a federal consent decree from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stop sewage overflows into the Tennessee River. The city has allocated over $264 million for related projects, and that cost has trickled down to customers across the region.
Wright said he did not have a date for when he would present the rate options to the council.
Ringgold and Chattanooga are also working through what Chattanooga described as "on-going issues" with the Ringgold wastewater system in a letter dated Feb. 26, 2019. In the letter, Chattanooga raised questions about the Ringgold Pump Station and "certain aspects of the city's CMOM program." CMOM stands for "capacity, management, operations and maintenance."
Wright responded on behalf of the city on March 25, 2019. Chattanooga responded on June 26 and the two have been in discussions over the past seven weeks.
"I spent a day with them, and we will work through it," said Wright. "It just takes a little time."
Email Davis Lundy at davislundy@aol.com.