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Regular City Council Meeting <br />June 16, 2003 <br />Page 16 <br /> <br />on earth. Some things on earth can live without air, but nothing can live without <br />water. <br /> <br />Mr. Campbell advised that for the past sixteen years, they have met all of the <br />demanding and ever-changing state and federal water and wastewater rules, <br />regulations and unfunded mandates placed upon this city and specifically upon <br />the Utilities Department. In the past ten years, there have been no new positions <br />added in the Utilities Department and the budgets have been basically flat for the <br />last three years. They have met this challenge by properly training and retaining <br />a good core staff of personnel. This has never been more evident than this year <br />when they have had two major water breaks. Quick and proper action by our <br />trained staff averted several hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost time and <br />products for some of our major industries and there will be many more <br />challenges in the future as our system continues to age. He said this department <br />is well respected by the citizens of Paris and rightfully so. He did not believe <br />that now is the time to be reducing personnel, especially in light of current <br />world events. The water and wastewater systems need your support now more <br />than ever before as they are high on terrorist target lists. <br /> <br />Mr. Campbell stated that for months a study has been on going by an Ad-Hoc <br />Committee of the City Council. Certain recommendations have been made by <br />this Committee. In his opinion, adopting all of these recommendations would <br />not be in the best interest of the city. Mr. Campbell said if all of the personnel <br />recommendations of the Committee were implemented, the savings to the <br />average water user (around 5000 gallons per month) would be only 13.5 cents <br />per month for water and $0.74 per month for wastewater service. That is a total <br />of 87.5 cents per month or just a little less than 3 cents per day. Mr. Campbell <br />said as a citizen of Paris, he considered that a small amount to pay for the <br />continued protection of his health and the protection of the environment. Mr. <br />Campbell said there were other items addressed in the recommendations that <br />should be considered during the budget making process. <br /> <br />Mr. Campbell said that with all the things they have accomplished, they have <br />always worked with less people than budgeted. This is because at least three <br /> <br /> <br />