Frequently Asked Questions
Review the statements below to better understand our concerns for the members of our community.
What is the true cost to connect to the TSD sewer system?
Our team at Terrebonne Sewer District is very concerned that the Terrebonne Sanitary District is not being honest with homeowners and businesses concerning the cost to connect to the system.
Although the information on connection fees are outlined in the district’s feasibility study, it is buried inside the 244 page document. According to their plan, your cost to connect to the TSD will be between $14,730 and $31,480, just to connect. See our post on “Sewer System Hook-up Fees” for more details.
Will you be forced to connect to TSD now or in the future?
Terrebonne Sanitary District has been very animent about not requiring homes in the district to connect to the system and we applaud this. However we do believe this is a false promise.
The promise to not require connections is not a policy nor is it written or documented on their website. If fact, if the district’s board finds that they do not have enough ratepayers to pay the bills or if a new board comes on, they can change the rule and require everyone to connect.
Why do we believe that the projected finances of TSD are out of control?
The Terrebonne Sanitary District included a balanced budget in the feasibility study presented in 2022. After careful study by our team, we believe that this budget is flawed in many ways. Not only are the numbers old, we believe that the income is overstated and expenses are understated on almost every line.
A quick look at just the money needed to be build the project gives us a good idea of how bad it is. The original cost to be borrowed was about $2,900,000 but the new number they are proposing is about $6,000,000. For more insight into the district’s budget, see our post titled “TSD Proposed Budget 2022”. (updated budget numbers are here)
Why are there so few homes and businesses in TSD?
Terrebonne Sanitary District’s original plan for the committee that pushed for the sewer district was to include the entire are of Terrebonne proper, about 1 square mile. They did know that this had been tried before with a vote that failed by a large margin, so they chose to target only the business area, the trailer park, and a small group of homes. The district now represents about 91 of the total of 600 lots with homes and businesses in Terrebonne.
Make no mistake… the long term goal is to have everyone connected to the sewer system. See our post “EDUs in District – Who Will Pay For The Sewer System?” for more details.
Why did TSD try and place a sewer line inside the 100 foot boundary of your community water wells?
Unbeknownst to almost everyone, including the Terrebonne Domestic Water District, the Terrebonne Sanitary District attempted to get a waiver to place one of their sewer lines inside the standard 100 buffer around our community water wells.
After a hard fought fight the Terrebonne Domestic Water District was able to have the proposed sewer lines near its well eliminated. The support for the District’s efforts involved a petition and a campaign by the citizens of Terrebonne to protect its water source.
See our post titled “Terrebonne Sanitary District Agreement With Redmond School District” for more information.
