Talkeetna sewer and water utility may get lift in accounting

The Talkeetna Sewer and Water Board was presented with an interesting financial proposition at their Board meeting Wednesday.  Resident Kathy Stoltz was a persons-to-be-heard and said that she, along with resident Pat Pratt, would like to assist the Board in coming up with a more equitable solution than the proposed fee structure that the Board is currently reviewing.

Stoltz says her background is accounting and business.  She is not on the Talkeetna utility, but sees inequality in the proposed resolution that would change how the utility will collect fees from seasonal residents and businesses.  The Board was willing to listen to any proposal that would set the utility on the pathway to better accounting of customers on the water system.

Stoltz will provide a brief line-item-glance at potential future accounting at the special meeting called next week to vote on the proposed resolution.   That meeting is set for 3 p.m. on Thursday.  She said she would need about 2 months to come up with the accounting that would show the Board a more equitable way of charging fees and what it will take to set the utility on the pathway to solvency.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the new sewer and water employee Mike Kilgo, gave an update on installation of commercial meters.  The meters were received from the Borough.  Kilgo has spent a great deal of time over the past weeks making sure the meters are installed properly and working.  40 meters were received and are being installed in businesses in downtown and east Talkeetna.

The installation of the arsenic treatment system is well on its way to completion.  Project manager Jeff Walden says the water tie-in this week went smoothly. The Borough received about a dozen phone calls from residents asking why the water was off, to which the reply was the shut off had been announced on the radio for over a week. The new treatment unit has been shipped. The unit is a 15 by 40 foot connex building.  Everything should be connected and operational by November. There may be one additional water shut off period before November. Walden will give residents notice as he did for the previous shut off.  He thanked all residents for their patience.