“End Sticker Shock”–Moore Supports Creation Of Regional Authority To Stabilize Sewer Rates

Time to pass the peace poop. While officials in Bridgeport and Trumbull continue to battle over sewer fees, State Senate candidate Marilyn Moore is urging cooperation between the communities for approval of a regional water pollution control authority to “stabilize rates, protect the environment and create much-needed jobs.” Moore issued a statement Wednesday urging an end to “sticker shock” for ratepayers in Bridgeport and Trumbull. Moore says if elected to the Connecticut legislature she will serve as a bridge between the communities for approval of a regional water pollution control authority allowed by state law.

“I decided to seek office because we need constructive dialog and working partnerships to bring our communities together for the common good of the region,” says Moore. “As a taxpayer and a ratepayer I understand the financial pain residents and businesses are feeling in Bridgeport and Trumbull. We must find a fair way to stabilize user rates and that starts with a regional authority that’s allowed under Connecticut state statute.”

Moore is challenging incumbent Anthony Musto in an August 12 Democratic primary.

More from the Moore campaign:

The city of Bridgeport has treatment systems in the East End and West End associated with an aging pipeline infrastructure. The town of Trumbull has sewers but no treatment plant. The town’s waste is processed in Bridgeport. Officials have not come to an agreement over rates that Trumbull users should pay creating instability in the user rates of both communities.

Talks between Bridgeport and Trumbull officials have broken down to form a regional authority that could purchase the assets of the respective wastewater systems and infrastructure to make improvements, address overflow issues, stabilize rates, accommodate development needs and transfer debt service and improve fund balances.

“Many benefits exist for a regional authority,” says Moore “including access to greater state and federal dollars for upgrades and improvements, green technology, new jobs and fair rates. I want to work with our community leaders and local legislative bodies to find a solution that’s fair to all ratepayers.”

Moore says a regional authority would:
• Stabilize long-term rates
• Protect the environment and public health of citizens
• Generate funds for modern wastewater facilities and infrastructure
• Promote new jobs through plant and infrastructure improvements

“We must bring our public officials together for the betterment of the region,” says Moore. “I pledge to do that as your state senator. Let’s end sticker shock for rate payers in Bridgeport and Trumbull.”

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22 comments

  1. You mean a sharing of costs, like what happened when Aquarion had to build water filtration plants that only benefited portions of its service territory, the only concept of spreading costs over a widespread geographic region? Trumbull wouldn’t have had its commercial tax base grow if it weren’t for connecting to Bpt. Sharing costs is how all utilities work.

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  2. More campaign baloney. A freshman senator has zero pull, besides the fact Herbst and Finch hate each other. I understand it’s campaign baloney but I still like Moore and wish I could vote for her.

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  3. Herbst and Finch can’t speak or even sit in the same room together. Musto is an empty suit so that’s no help. If Moore is elected, even as the new kid on the block, she will add a voice of reason to this debate. It’s a negotiation and someone has to bring some reason to it. Go Marilyn.

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  4. I have to admit it but Tim-pan-alley is right. Get an impartial third-party arbitrator in to structure the deal. Both Finch and Herbst can’t stand each other and are constantly trying to one-up the other.
    But Moore is right, a deal can be structured in which ratepayers from both towns can get real relief.

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    1. You are full of it, Bob. Tell us when the Bridgeport people had an opportunity to negotiate the rate we have been paying for years?
      We elect people to negotiate these types of rates for us. I’ve never heard you or Timpanelli suggest an arbitrator be brought in to negotiate our mil rate. I’m sure if Moore gets elected she would not want an arbitrator calling the shots and your current position will have changed by then. Real relief is what Local Eyes and I will feel after the Poop Race.

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  5. Marilyn, where does the waste from Monroe go?
    You describe your plan as a “Regional Authority.” However, your plan call for an agreement between one town and one city. That means as far as you are concerned, Monroe is not in your region despite the fact it’s part of the Senatorial District you are vying to get elected in. Why? What you are suggesting is exactly what is already in place–an agreement (currently under re-negotiation) between a town and a city. Your two-party regional approach will never work and the only real winners would be the developers like Anthony Julian Construction and Trumbull. Kiss future Bridgeport developments goodbye and keep your eyes on the Bridgeport and Trumbull border as the landscape changes with new development. We will get the shit and the people in P.T. Barnum Apartments, Black Rock, and the East End will benefit from the smell of more shit.

    “The city of Bridgeport has treatment systems in the East End and West End associated with an aging pipeline infrastructure.”

    “We must find a fair way to stabilize user rates and that starts with a regional authority that’s allowed under Connecticut state statute.”

    You know where the treatment plants are located and acknowledged the user rate is unfair. The big question and the debate must be to whom is the “user rate” unfair. Trumbull is the last town that can argue the “user rate” is unfair. Let me explain this to you in a simple way. First, notice the fee is called a “user rate.” Tell us what is the definition of a “user rate” and the supporting logic behind it. If I take a cab from my home on Maplewood Avenue to downtown, I will be charged a rate base on distance and time. The greater the distance I travel, the more time it will take to get to my destination (assuming speedy is not the cab driver). Likewise, a train fare rate to Norwalk from Bridgeport costs less than a ride to Stamford. I hope you and other readers know why. I live on Maplewood Avenue not far from the treatment plant. When I flush my poop and at the same time Local Eyes in Trumbull flushes his, the fair user rate logic should start. By the time Local Eyes’ poop reaches either of the treatment plants in Bridgeport, all my poop from that week has already been processed with much less use of the sewage infrastructure and energy use. Why should Local Eyes pay less or the same user rate as me? The people who deserve a much lower user rate are those living closest to the treatment plants–Lower East Side, East End, West Side, Downtown, Black Rock. Local Eyes, let me know when you want to start the Poop Race.

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  6. This was a great press release for Only In Bridgeport readers. However for the other 100,000 readers of the Connecticut Post, Mr. Musto is already on it.

    Lennie, really?

    Bob Walsh, really?

    Tim Herbst and Bill Finch have been waiting for the second coming in Marilyn Moore because she is going to do what Musto is planning on doing. What is going on. What’s next? A vote for Marilyn and you get a flat screen TV? Can we get an original press release with an original idea that has not already been introduced and about to be implemented?

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    1. Musto was not ON squat. He was cornered to respond to a scathing call-out by Herbst. That’s it. Marilyn was not quoted in the Post because she has not been the sitting State Senator who was supposed to be addressing this issue. Herbst called out Musto, and he was contacted by the Post to respond. Tell me what does that have to do with Moore? She just offered up her ideas because Musto did not have one, nor did he find this issue important enough to address even though he and Timpanelli had been asked to by Herbst. THAT is what happened here.

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      1. And Mustang, you know that because both the Post, Timpanelli and Musto told you or is the Moore camp clairvoyant or do the press releases just come out 24 hours after a news cycle and she decides it would be a good idea to address it? Now this press release is limited to OIB, the rest of the population reads the article in the paper. Does anyone in the Moore camp believe they came up with an original idea? Well you have two weeks to brainstorm. I have a great idea, maybe Moore can promise a new gateway from North Bridgeport to Trumbull. The roads are all cracked, the curbs are all crumbling and look horrific. I’ll bet that could get a few thousand votes.

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        1. Mustang, without me being a thorn in your side, what would we be talking about? I know, my vegetable garden. This is the first time in eight years I am going to have a bumper crop. The tomatoes alone. The secret? I will share. My compost, Epson salts and fish emulsion. Honest.

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  7. I still don’t understand what you mean by original idea. This was a response to what happened. That’s it. It was not a strategy, it was a response. Wouldn’t any campaign do this? There have been a wealth of ideas and platforms put forth by Moore. Musto has been silent except when having to defend himself. Where are his releases? Where are his campaign platforms? Where is his voice? This was a press release, not an OIB post.

    My garden is not doing well this year. Thanks for the advice.

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    1. Mustang, honestly I am growing tomatoes, broccoli, beets, kale, collards, Italian flat beans, green beans, parsley and basil. I used the compost from my garden (egg shells, potato peels, coffee grounds etc. etc.), Epson salts on the ground as well as in a spray bottle for tomato leaves and flowers, and fish emulsion from Home Depot. Went on YouTube for these hints, results are outrageous. Best in eight years.

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  8. Steve Auerbach,
    These are Musto’s quotes from the CT Post.
    Musto “I’m willing to do whatever I can to help it go forward,” he said. “It’s always been my understanding it was Trumbull that didn’t want to enter into one.”
    Musto declined to comment on whether Trumbull should receive a sewer fee discount from Bridgeport.
    “I’m not going to weigh in on the litigation,” Musto said. “That’s not appropriate for me to do.”
    Is this your idea of leadership? To me it sounds more like cluelessness. An incumbent State Senator saying “I’m willing to do whatever I can.” He should have been totally involved in the process long before now. And then he says “it’s always been my understanding it was Trumbull.” Why isn’t he saying things like “in my conversations with Trumbull’s First Selectman” or “in a meeting I called with both Mayor Finch and Selectman Herbst.” He can’t say things like that because he is totally disengaged. Totally clueless about the issue. Time to move on. This is why Musto must go.

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    1. Bob, to be honest, I felt Anthony Musto’s answer was thoughtful, fair and balanced. These issues have gone on for awhile. I’d rather a thoughtful response than a haphazard off-the-cuff response that would be a populist answer with no substance.

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      1. What was thoughtful? He basically admitted not knowing anything about the issue and not having done anything about the issue. Maybe it was honest, but thoughtful? He hadn’t given the issue a thought until Lockhart called him on it.
        Balanced? How? From whose point of view rather than your own? “It’s always been my understanding it was Trumbull.” Where is the balance there? He immediately took Finch’s point of view and did not even try to contact Herbst on the issue. He has thrown the town of Trumbull and the ratepayers under the bus because he couldn’t be bothered with looking into the matter and talking with the principals.
        Steve, do you believe it would be appropriate for the state of CT to kick in some capital funds to make the deal happen especially if in the long run it would help clean up Long Island Sound?
        If so, is this the job of the State Senator? To try to procure state funding to leverage an agreement? If so, why has he done nothing? If not, why not? Because he didn’t even think to inquire. Because he was totally clueless about the issue.

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        1. Bob, re: CT $ for capital equipment. I’ve always felt the issues with these treatment facilities should be addressed at the federal level. Many treatment facilities around the country have the same issues–antiquated equipment in need of repair or replacement. The reason I say federal is because so many discharge their treated waste into waterways that serve more than the community that has the equipment. But like everything else, brownfields, waterways, harbors & ports, highways; our elected leaders have kicked the can down the road hoping someone else will resolve the issues.

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        1. Bob, you’re yelling at me so I’m going to spread some manure on my vegetables the way you are spreading the horse shit here. 🙂 I do appreciate your enthusiasm for Marilyn Moore.

          On to one of my more painful subjects. All over the news, The Marina Village gun shots. One can only wait for the groundbreaking to bring the replacement housing across the street from the Arena and Harbor yard. A block from Ralph and Rich’s. Stray bullet holes throughout the apartment after a weekend of Marina Village shootings. Very sad. The sooner we get these apts built downtown the sooner we can get some real p.r. for the City.

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    2. Musto is as clueless as the City of Bridgeport, when Bridgeport may still be paying Fairfield a WPA users fee for Farchild Wheeler. Fairchild Wheeler has its own septic system.

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  9. Joel,
    You had better be careful. Herbst might call you as an expert witness. The points you are making are the exact same ones Herbst is making. He is saying if all the affluent effluent is treated at one processing plant, why should Trumbull ratepayers be expected to pay for anything having to do with the other? Why should they be responsible for capital improvements to a plant they don’t use? Why should they be expected to pay for separating water runoff from sewer lines since these are already separated? Why should they have to pay operating costs, wages and overhead for plants and sewer lines they don’t use? I am sure Selectman Herbst is very pleased with you taking his side in this battle. Now maybe you can call Musto and try to explain this to him.

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