If your toilet is falling apart, you don’t bother your neighbors in the middle of the night; you replace it.
If your refrigerator starts breaking down, you don’t let your food turn rancid; you get a new one.
And when the batteries in your smoke detector wear out, you don’t wait for the house to catch fire; you get a fresh set.
Shop around for the best deal, of course.
But you don’t put it off.
Here’s where Lewiston voters find themselves.
Mutually, they own a set of appliances — a wastewater treatment plant that was built during Dwight Eisenhower’s administration and a water treatment plant constructed when Calvin Coolidge was president. Long ago, each outlived its useful lifespan.
They are prone to breaking down. Replacement parts are difficult to find. Repairs are costly. They rely on outdated technologies.
These are not luxuries.
Some of the wastewater treatment plant’s backup systems no longer work. Under the right circumstances, a system failure could lead to Lewiston polluting the Clearwater River and drawing fines for violating the Clean Water Act.
During high demand, the water treatment plant cannot meet its maximum designed capacity, forcing the city to rely more on its wells to draw groundwater. If a major component in that system fails during a peak demand period, such as the summer irrigation season, city residents might face water restrictions.
Time is not on Lewiston’s side. The community can’t put this off.
Replacing and updating the wastewater treatment plant will cost a little more than $29 million.
Updates and replacements for the water system, including a treatment plant, are another $42 million.
The question before Lewiston voters is not if, but how.
On the May 21 ballot are a pair of revenue bonds to finance the projects. Passage requires a simple majority.
Your property taxes are not affected. That’s because the city council voted last summer to boost sewer and water fees by about 40 percent — generating a $2 million annual revenue stream to cover the bond payments.
The city’s prospects brightened considerably when the state Department of Environmental Quality authorized low-interest financing through its revolving loan fund and contributed another $2 million through grants.
DEQ’s contribution will shave $30 million — roughly 60 percent — from the interest charges. It also allows the city to amortize both projects much faster. The wastewater treatment plant bonds will be paid off in 15 years. The water system bonds will be retired in 25 years.
If nothing else, that insulates ratepayers against more sticker shocks.
Vote no and the problem does not go away. Instead, the alternative becomes paying these costs up front.
When the city’s consultant, FCS Group, looked at that option, it concluded Lewiston’s user fees — which now average about $69 a month for water and $48 a month for sewer — would have to double.
That’s no threat. It’s simple math.
You can argue — justifiably — with the city’s unsuccessful attempt to sidestep the voters last year by getting a judge to issue the bonds.
You can even complain about the usual litany of high property taxes, money spent on libraries, municipal art or even urban renewal.
But you can’t dispute the logic expressed best by former 2nd District Court Judge John Bradbury — whose successful lawsuit blocked the city’s judicial confirmation and forced the election.
“Is it fair to blame the city for these deplorable conditions?” Bradbury wrote in a letter to the Tribune. “Of course. But not dealing with them before they become catastrophic is worse.”
Do yourself a favor on May 21.
Take the deal. It’s the best one you’re likely to get.
Vote yes. — M.T.
