HB1107 Part II

The final pages of the bill is all completely new wording which details what can and cannot be approved for Residential Subdivision. 

Under this bill not only will there be no major subdivision approved unless served by a public sewerage system and no minor subdivision unless served by a nitrogen removal devise as approved by the department.  But here’s another change is how the discharges must be approved.  Currently any land application discharges must not discharge nitrogen that will raise the nitrogen levels above the drinking water standards of 10 milligrams.   Now in this bill the combination of the treatment and the land application system must remove 100% of the nitrogen and phosphorus.  This means that since the treatment plant using today’s technology will not remove the nitrogen much lower than 3 milligrams under optimal conditions, the vegetation of the land application system must remove the rest.  One might say, will that’s no problem because plants us the nitrogen.  And this is true under optimal conditions.  However, during the winter months treatments plants do not operate at optimal conditions due to cold water and the nitrogen uptake of the plants is little to none.  Therefore there will be a much larger storage area required to hold the treated sewage since you cannot discharge if the nitrogen is not 100% removed before it reaches the groundwater.  This will require much larger land application areas and storage ponds which uses up a lot more land for the purpose of waste disposal.  Understand this just a simple analogy of the process, it’s really much more complicated than this, but you get the point.in the end, the cost for the systems raise substantially.   So what do we get, no new developments and no new tax base & no help from the State even though they pass regulations that the counties must live with, but that’s nothing new.  Now we move to the minor subdivision.  Although those located in the critical area already have to nitrogen removal units they now are requiring even those properties outside of the critical area to have one also with no mention of monetary help from big brother.  Right now every tax payer in the state must pay an annual $30 fee to the state to fund the installation of these units, however, the critical area properties are the only one who can receive the funds.   Oh, except for the farmers who gets 5 million dollars every year from the fund except an additional 5 million for the farmers as which is supposed to be a onetime deal a couple of years ago.  Now that’s not to say the farmers actually got the money because you see, it has to be given out by the department of agriculture, another government agency, who decides who actually gets the money.  Now you remember the definition of the minor subdivision, “less than five lots”, well even that’s not totally a given.   If after July 1, 2011 if you decide to divide one lot off of your property for a son or daughter you will not be able to do the other 3 lots, why, because the new regulation states that the residential minor subdivision my not be re-subdivided or further subdivided; and the remainder parcel or tract of land my not be subdivided. 

Folks, this is a bad bill that does not help anyone.  It does however, effectively stops all growth, and eliminates the possibility of increasing the tax base.  Therefore the only way government can increase revenue to pay for their programs is to raise taxes on those who are already over taxed, existing property owners.  This is your government at work and I thought it was supposed to be by the people and for the people.

GO HERE to read Part I.