Friday’s session at the Raglan Surf Life Saving Club provided an opportunity for Waikato District Council staff to show information about the proposed waste water system to Whaanga Coast ratepayers. Incognito Council staff mingled with ratepayers answering queries on a one-on-one basis. Fortunately Raglan Community Board Members were able to point council staff out to ratepayers as the staff had no identification.
There was no opportunity to ask questions in group situation so each ratepayer only heard answers to their specific queries. One ratepayer asked different Council staff the same question and got different answers. The question was, ‘If I opt for the 10 year plan what happens if I sell my property?” One Council staffer answered that the debt would remain with the property while another said the debt would have to be repaid from the sale proceeds.
The WDC information panels gave three options for ratepayers:
- Stay with a septic tank system and get it certified for a hefty fee every year by a professional engineer and pumped out every third year
- Pay the charge in one year with three payments of $5,130 totalling $15,390
- Pay the charge off over ten years starting with three payments of $886.31 a year totalling $2,658.93 in the first year, reducing to $1,539.00 in the tenth year
Council staff had forms available for people to sign up for these options. While a number of people told the Raglan Website they were happy with the scheme, others left session saying that they hadn’t got the answers they needed and there was not going to be an opportunity to discuss their issues.
Hi Rodger I thought I should clarify a few points. There were 7 WDC & 3 WRC Staff at the Open Day. We had everything except name tags, but after 15 minutes this was sorted with temporary tags. We were certainly not incognito and we received a lot of positive feedback. We also had a number of owners complete the written feedback form indicating they were keen to join up.
The issue raised about 2 responses to what happens if I sell, was because there are a number of options. The seller should pay the account, as you would with your mortgage from a bank on settlement. If the new owner is prepared to pick it up, then that’s fine also, however I imagine that is very unlikely.
If there are still outstanding questions then please contact me.
Thanks Richard for clarifying that.