There were 10 residents present including 4 LTPOA board members. Bill gave us a copy of the estimated project costs and a quick overview. A USDA loan would be for 33 years. We will need a revenue bond council. Suggest we get organized to put it on the ballot for our regular municipal election in April, 2006, to save the cost of a special election. We should have everything ready by Jan. 7-10 to get on the April ballot.

The county commission forms the sewer district. After contracts are out, 5 directors are appointed with different term limits (1-5 years). They make monthly financial statements to USDA, Rural Development, with yearly reports to the state auditors.

Ms. Martin - To get a grant from USDA the median annual income needs to be $47,677. For a county (CDBG) grant the mean income must be $39,043 or below. The county must have a request for income survey of all households. It would be conducted by an independent administrator, I.e. Ed Kemp's office. We must have 51% or more low-to-moderate income to get the $300,000 for the CDBG grant. Need a response from 80% of households from the mailed survey. County stipulates survey must be made within a year, USDA survey can be 2 years old. Maybe the county administrator will conduct the survey. USDA will reimburse for survey costs. Need to ask USDA for authorization for survey.

Bill - We need to form district this summer. Suggested we organize as a water and sewer district, so at a later time we would be ready to have a water facility. When we vote, must have 4/7 of the registered voters who would be served by the district. Only registered voters can vote on the revenue bonds. It would be mandatory to hook up to the system.

Bill - The cost to the homeowner would be the estimated user fee plus $2-3 electric per month. For the first 4 years the county clerk would collect user fees and run the district. After that we would need to have a clerk for 20 hours per week to collect fees and call for repairs. Ed Kemp will tell us which state statutes and get an attorney who is knowledgeable regarding sewer development. Raymond Dickhanner was recommended. He will advise us and meet very soon with the committee, his fees would be paid later (included in proposal costs). There would be an upfront cost to us of $4-5,000. Our treasurer should set up a separate sewer account to keep track of all expenses.

Our existing septic tanks would be disabled and filled, all grey water tanks and outlets connected to the new sewer lines, as there would be only one connection per house.