Sewer Authority vote averts potential calamity

Two votes were needed in a three-hour meeting, but Oconee’s Joint Regional Sewer Authority can count on a budget for the new government year starting July 1.  On the second vote yesterday, three Walhalla members switched their votes to approve after they were able to further analyze the costs Walhalla will bear to treat their wastewater in 2022-23.  By voting along with Seneca’s three members, the budget passed 6-2.  The two Westminster members who voted in the minority remain concerned over whether their city is being billed accurately for the waste Westminster customers send into the conveyance lines.  The budget approval also removes the potential of the JRSA starting a new year unable to legally transact business, a scenario that its executive director, Chris Eleazer, warned could make him personally criminally liable.  Eleazer outlined such a scenario based on an attorney’s opinion that he sought, anticipating the commissioners might again disagree on a new budget.