Storm sewer tap-in fee pitched (6/3/05)

The next time a business or someone building a house needs to tap into one of the city’s storm sewers, it might not be free.

Wastewater treatment plant superintendent Bob Brelsford suggested to the Portland Board of Works Thursday that the city consider charging businesses and residents a fee to tap into a storm sewer.

He said the wastewater treatment plant currently supplies all of the materials and labor needed to create the connection to the storm sewer.

The property owner puts a gutter spout system around the roof of the structure. This storm water then runs down through a down spout, into the ground and through a line installed by the property owner. The line runs toward the storm sewer, which typically runs along city streets. To tap into the storm sewer, the city employees bore a hole in the storm sewer, then install a line between the sewer and the storm water line. The storm sewer then takes the water to the Salamonie River.

Brelsford said the wastewater department employees would have to continue to do the connecting to prevent damage to the storm sewer. If done improperly, the line could break down, he said. The tap in fee would pay for the materials and labor needed to create the connection.

The city currently charges $550 for the parts and labor to install the same type of line to connect to one of the city’s sanitary sewers, Brelsford said. Charging the same connection fee for the storm sewer would be fair, he said, because both lines require the same amount of work.

The board members decided to do some more research on the proposed tap in fee and look at what other cities charge. The item will be on the agenda for the next meeting, which is Thursday, July 14, at 10 a.m.

In other business, the board selected two new reserve officers for the Portland Police Department.

Jackie E. Baughman, 31, 717 E. High St., Portland, and Angela J. Nichols, 33, 239 E. Race St., Portland, were named as the new officers. Baughman owns Baughman’s Concrete, and Nichols works for Community and Family Services, Portland Police Chief Bob Sours said. Both have completed the basic training needed to be reserve officers, he said.

These officers will work a minimum of 12 hours every three months. Duties include assisting full-time officers, helping with traffic control and serving as city court bailiffs. Reserve officers are volunteers, Sours said.

Also Thursday, the board voted to hire Bonar Group to do all of the engineering work for the Boundary Pike/Wayne Street project.

The engineering firm started the preliminary engineering work for the project in late 2000. City clerk-treasurer Barbara Blackford said she could not find a record of the board ever voting to hire the company. She said the firm probably submitted a bid in late 1999, when Maxine Lewis was the mayor of Portland.

Blackford said she and Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and vote to hire the firm, to cover all of the bases. The firm is being paid about $414,000 to do the preliminary engineering work.

Hosier said bid letting for construction on the project should begin by the end of summer or early this fall.

The estimated $4.6 to $5 million project will improve drainage, improve and run the sanitary sewer to the Salamonie River, add new street lights and improve safety by adding new sidewalks.[[In-content Ad]]