Water Rate Increase Tabled For Now
Editor’s Note: An additional article on the water project is on page 7.
On Tuesday, August 12th, the city of Council held a city council Meeting at City Hall. Council members Mendy Stanford, Dan Huter, Mark Edwards, and David Tubridy were all present, as was Mayor Bruce Gardner.
The meeting room at City Hall was packed full of Council citizens who had come to voice their opinions on proposed water and sewer rate increases. Citizens were instructed that if they wished to speak during the public hearing they needed to sign up on a sheet of paper up front. Mayor Gardner called the meeting to order and proceeded with the agenda.
Andrew Kimmel, with Great West Engineering, gave a report and said he would be issuing a letter of approval for the Ritter Subdivision that week. He said the water project was still at DEQ for a 90 day review period, so it was likely that they would not be able to start construction until spring next year. The comprehensive plan was progressing so that it would work with city code.
Kayla Brown gave an update on the Airport via Zoom. She said that there was a productive meeting with Summit Construction on the paving project and it was set to begin the following Monday. They were estimating October 1st for completion. They will hold off and do permanent paint in spring if they run into inclement weather. The grants were all in place and a lighting grant came through for replacement lighting.
Public Works Director, Caleb Shumway, gave an update next. Shumway said the burned building at 202 Illinois was coming down and they found the water line and have safely capped it off. They haven’t found the sewer line yet. He also fixed a water leak on Michigan.
Next, the Council moved on to public hearings. There were three scheduled. The first was about a budget amendment for the current fiscal year. Mayor Gardner said there were two reasons they had to reopen the budget: they had to expend some funds around the first of the year that were a blessing but they hadn’t accounted for, and second they had not budgeted for the demolition of the burned building, which was running in the neighborhood of $100,000. The second public hearing was for comment on the proposed budget for the next fiscal year. There was no public comment on either of the first two public hearings.
The third public hearing was concerning the resolution for water rate increases and a new fee schedule. Mayor Gardner said the rate increase had been published, and they proceeded to take public comment. He stressed that public comment was not a back and forth conversation, and that each citizen would be limited to 3 minutes. This was a source of contention for many of the citizens who commented, many of whom had questions rather than comment.
Of the citizens who commented during the public hearing, several themes stood out. Everyone who spoke was in opposition of the proposed rate increase. Several citizens did not understand the necessity. Others thought the price hike was too much too fast, and people would not have time to adequately work it into their budgets. There were several citizens from Council Greens who stated they were currently paying double the city water and sewer rate, and with this proposed price hike would again be paying double the increase. One resident stated that her water and sewer bill was currently more than double her property taxes and three times her homeowners insurance. Several residents mentioned the elderly who were on a fixed budget and could not accommodate such a rise in rates. The City Council listened to all of the public comments but made no comment themselves. After everyone who was signed up had finished speaking, Mayor Gardner closed the public hearing without any further discussion.
Next, the city council approved the contract with Summit Construction for repaving the airport and approved the contract for one way light rehabilitation. They then read two of the three proposed ordinances and approved them, but when they arrived at the ordinance about the increased water and sewer rates, city council member Dan Huter wanted to table it. Mayor Gardner agreed to table. Council member Tubridy thought that it needed further consideration. They decided to delay until the next meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9th. “We have tabled the fee increase, the water rate increase, until we have had a chance to reconsider it,” Mayor Bruce Gardner told the assembled crowd, “those of you outside the city limits, we will be reconsidering that arrangement as well.”
