MANSFIELD — Eric Miller acknowledged Tuesday evening one of Aesop’s Fables: “Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.”
He offered a chuckle when reminded of the expression after Mansfield City Council voted 7-1 to put his citizen-initiative “Water Main Initiative for Fire Safety” proposal on the Nov. 7 ballot.
Miller, a Mansfield attorney and creator of the successful “Pothole Haters Tax” in the city, now has less than five months to convince voters to approve a quarter-percent income tax increase to replace 53 miles of aging, four-inch water lines around the city.
“We’re going to go out and make our case to the public,” Miller said after the meeting, again saying a lack of fire hydrant water pressure due to inadequate water lines affects 2,400 addresses in the city.
“That’s a lot of people. We just have to get the word out and hopefully people will recognize the need for fire safety,” said Miller, who successfully pushed for the “Pothole Haters Tax” in 1984.
That tax, which raises funds that can only be spent to resurface city roads, has been renewed every four years since its inception. The city will resurface 34 miles of its streets in 2023 at a cost of $6.99 million, all derived from the tax.
If approved, the new water main tax would be collected for four years and would generate a total of about $17 to $18 million during that time.
City engineer Bob Bianchi told council June 6 it would cost $70 to $80 million to replace all of the four-inch water lines in the city, some of which are more than a century old.
“Employers, they and their employees will be paying a big share of the tax. But if you’re an employer, you want your employees in this town to have safe housing and this is a safe housing issue,” Miller said.
“So we’re going to get the word out to people and hopefully they’ll look out for the future of this city by voting for it.”
Miller said his group has raised about $6,000 to spend on its informational campaign and hopes to raise about $13,000 more.
“We know it will be on the ballot. We’ve got volunteers. We’re going to go out and make our case to the public,” Miller said.
He and his group may want to start with members of City Council, none of whom expressed support for the issue.
Most have said it’s too soon, coming a few months after local lawmakers approved adding a “readiness to serve” charge on water bills.
But with the exception of At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Zader, they said residents should have the chance to vote on it.
Zader said the group should have circulated petitions through the local Board of Elections to put the issue before voters.
“I don’t think that we need to do that and decide to put it on the ballot. We’ve made decisions about collections. We’ve made decisions about water meters. We’ve made decisions about rate increases and we’ve pushed that out on the citizens,” she said.
“We have yet to see any of those initiatives come to full fruition. We haven’t seen data from the rate increases.
“We have yet to finish the water meter installation and the collection process hasn’t gone extremely well either. So I really struggle with us as a body voting in favor of something like this to put it on the ballot,” she said.
At-large Councilman Phil Scott, the longest-tenured local legislator, said he had no problems putting the issue on the ballot.
“We all know that Mr. Miller was behind the Pothole Haters Tax. And we know how successful that has been through the years. He and his colleagues look at that frequently to make sure that those funds are going for the paving of our streets. And I think Mansfield has some of the best streets around us,” Scott said.
“If we put this on the ballot and let the citizens decide if they want it, great. If they don’t, well, they spoken. I’ve been as an advocate that we need to do something for the water mains in this town for a long time because a lot of them are really old.
“The city of Mansfield has kicked the can down the road, down the road, down the road. I think it’s time that we step up and put this on the ballot and let the voters decide what they want to do,” Scott said.
Fourth Ward Councilman Alomar Davenport, who said two weeks ago he would vote “no” on the issue in November, said council must allow voters to decide.
“I do not believe democracy allows us to vote no (tonight). We have to put it on the ballot. We have to allow the people to decide whether or not this additional tax should be levied against them,” he said.
“You know my feelings on whether we should do it or not. I do think it’s too early. I do think the people have not had a chance to adjust to their new reality, which is the new water bill. So I do think it is a bit early, but I’m just one vote. So it will be up to the people,” Davenport said.
Second Ward Councilwoman Cheryl Meier reiterated her concerns from two weeks ago that the request comes too soon after recent increases.
“I think it is premature to bring this up now. But I fully believe in allowing the citizens to make the decision. So I think we should go ahead and vote ‘yes’ to put it on the ballot,” Meier said.
