Editor, The citizens of Hinesville were asked to support a storm water fee to pay for a list of projects in the amount of $15 million a few years ago, which were implemented. This fee was added to every water bill account in the city of Hinesville. The citizens of Hinesville, who have been paying these fees, would like to read in your Coastal Courier the list of projects that have been completed. Please show the list of projects with a cost breakdown by project, project name, location and cost, funded and to-be funded, awarded and the remaining projects on the original list for the $15 million.

I’m sure the city of Hinesville would be more than glad to provide this information to be put in the Coastal Courier for all the water bill customers to see what these funds have been used for. City of Hinesville, please provided a brief description of each project.

I was under the impression that when these projects were completed at the estimated cost of $15 million, the storm water fees would no long exist. Hinesville citizens did not sign up for a never-ending list of projects. There were many worthwhile projects that needed additional funds to be completed, and the citizens of Hinesville stepped up and are paying the price. Thank you, Hinesville citizens. Now Hinesville citizens are looking for an end to this list.

There is a system on how storm water fees are collected based on square footage, which includes your home/roof, driveway, patios, sidewalks, storage buildings and any impervious areas on your property.

Let’s say approximately 10,000 water bill are sent out each month with an average cost of, say, $4 each in fees. That comes to $400,000 collected per year. $15 million divided by $400,000 per year means it will take approximately 37 years to collect the original cost of these projects.

— Ricky Parks
Hinesville