Two important columns on Knox County Stormwater
Rikki Hall of the Metropulse has written an important and revealing column on the challenge of stormwater in Knox County. This follows Mondays Betty Bean column in the Halls Shopper News that also confronts Knox County Commission on the new stormwater ordinance.
The simple issue at hand is whether developers should put in stormwater pipes that will last for many decades or put in pipes that may only last a few decades.
When stormwater piping is replaced either property owners or taxpayers have to pay the tab. Developers like Victor Jernigan express their viewpoint that putting in concrete stormwater piping cost too much. In last months Knox County Commission meeting Jernigan said that a $1000 cost for the developer would result in a $5000 expense for the homeowner. Seems like a high profit margin but not only did Jernigan use this example but so did another developer in this past Monday’s stormwater workshop.
In fact this has become the manta of the development community. I think the example is all wet as there is no way developers make a 80 percent profit margin. But it does reveal the mindset of the development community in Knox County.
Toothless ordinances are merely a subsidy for developers that create a transfer cost to property owners and taxpayers. Complicating the matter are Knox County Commissioners like Lumpy Lambert that are trying to preserve the materials like corrugated metal piping and plastic piping that simply do not last as long as concrete. In Monday’s stormwater meeting Commissioner Lambert incorrectly told the audience that mandating concrete stormwater piping would create a monopoly. He was quickly corrected by Joe Simpson of Sherman Dixie Concrete Industries in Chattanooga who informed Commissioner Lambert that their competitor in London, Ky gets plenty of business in East Tennessee.
This is simple, do you want to continue the subsidy for developers that requires taxpayers and property owners to pay for stormwater pipe replacement 15 years down the road or do you want Knox County Commission to require concrete piping for stormwater?
Niner, your capacity for getting things wrong never disappoints. Joe Simpson did not quickly correct Lambert. Simpson almost missed the meeting entirely, showing up toward the end of the public comments session, and he said nothing about how much business the Kentucky firm does in East Tennessee.
Also, the markup Jernigan cites is 400 percent, not 80 percent.
The stormwater issue is so much more complex than whether reinforced concrete should be used. It’s embarrassing how dominant that bickering has become and strong evidence of how narrowly the county focuses on developer interests. Enforcement is a much larger issue, and the RCP debate is an attempt to distract from that issue. Enforcement is not weak because the ordinance is toothless; it is weak because the enforcers, whether TDEC or the county, refuse to bite.
persimmon,
Markup is not Profit Margin. I know the HP engineering calculator doesn’t have those functions but the math is pretty straight forward.
As far as what is meant by quickly, it didn’t take much time for Joe Simpson to correct Lumpy. The RCP (reinforced concrete pipe) is crucial to the debate. Please list any information about new space age materials that are superior to RCP. Was Lumpy right? Can developers save big money and not screw homeowners down stream?
http://www.concrete-pipe.org/why.htm?cp_Session=8a442d80de115ed964b6cda3cefa57bf
Stayed tuned as I will post some links to YouTube that will make your case on enforcement.
Lumpy is right that other materials can achieve the same strength and durability as RCP, but the critical characteristic in this context is reliability. Installation of RCP is routine. The pipes are precast and just need to be positioned. With other kinds of pipes, more skill is needed. Concrete might need to be poured or segments might need to be welded or glued. If a metal pipe gets dented during installation, it will corrode more rapidly. There are more points of failure, so reliability is diminished.
Developers have pretty much made their bed on this issue. For decades, they have consistently cut corners or just ignored stormwater management, but now they want to be trusted to do more complex installations of cheaper materials.
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