Adding insult to injury.

Our city has gone through years of agony about sewer systems. Recommendations came and went for different systems, different payment methods, different allocations. Some stuck, others await their day, and yet still others were apparently buried due to various interested parties sharing the why and how of the folly of short sighted decisions.

On Monday, we were yet again romanced with another notion. This notion carrying undertones ever more dangerous than any that has yet graced our esteemed city hall. This notion is clothed in the siren's song of delaying sewer installations. A safe, effective way to keep septic systems, and avoid the assessments, at least for now. Or so the special interest who presented it would have you believe.

You see, the very people who came to tout the capability of septic to remain in our city are the very people who would profit from the septic systems remaining. Their comparisons to 'filters' and bureaucratic requirements of annual inspections, paid of course, by the home owners, were nothing more than a thinly veiled way to ensure a business, at the expense of our residents.

You see, eventually, you're going to need sewer anyway. Eventually, the neighborhood you live in will fill out to the point that you will have to have an improved system. They of course, have an answer there. A "micro system" which would also be charged to the home owners. This system would then last for a while, until even it is no longer capable of handling your sanitary needs. Then you would be forced to install a "real" sewer. So you will not pay once for sewer, not twice, but indeed, thrice! The insult added is that with likely inflation, you will pay yet more for your sewers than you will if they are completed in a timely manner, during the next few years.

Pay three times, and pay more than you would have originally... Where is the deal in that for residents?

Of course this deal sounds great to members of "NOWRA" the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Alliance, who's members include Robert "Bob" Himschoot, who spoke so convincingly on Monday. Here is Bob's Bio from the NOWRA website:

Robert “Bob” Himschoot has owned and operated a refuse collection and disposal operation for over 20 years, managing over 100,000 residential and 3500 commercial accounts. He and his sons also own an onsite business providing pumping services and septic system installation; and operate a residuals management facility specializing in solving problem areas with high flow and high strength waste. Bob currently serves on the Florida Onsite Wastewater Association Board of Directors, and chairs NOWRA’s Government Relations Committee. He has a BS degree in Forest Management from Louisiana State University and has spent his entire professional career in the solid and liquid waste management and recycling fields.

Now why would someone like that want to promote a government controlled bureaucracy that would force annual inspections of your septic system?

I'm certain Bob does a great job at what he does. I'm also sure, that if you need a good company to handle your septic for you, he is probably a candidate. However, it will never be in the interest of the residents of Cape Coral to have a vendor forced upon them to maintain, or inspect septic systems.