April 18, 2017 at 2:16 a.m.
Council discusses sewer rate increase
Council discusses sewer rate increase
Portland residents will face a sewer rate increase in the near future in order to pay for state-mandated wastewater infrastructure improvements.
Portland City Council heard a presentation from Umbaugh and Associates at its Monday evening meeting that outlined the city’s current projected wastewater revenue for the next five years and financial needs for major improvements to the city’s sewer system and wastewater treatment plant. The presentation included a pair of possibilities for rate increases that would cover improvements as a part of the city’s ongoing long-term control plans to comply with a pair of agreed orders with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Council also heard an overview of the features on the city’s new website and discussed the upcoming Indiana Run for the Fallen.
Jeff Rowe, a partner with Umbaugh and Associates, the city’s accounting firm, discussed the financial forecast for the city’s wastewater revenue, and presented two possible rate increases that could help cover the cost of major improvements. According to Rowe, the city will need an estimated total of $18.8 million over the next five years to cover two phases of improvements to the wastewater plant and the Harrison Street sewer separation project. According to Umbaugh’s projections, the city will utilize bonds and grant proceeds to cover $16.1 million of the total, and the wastewater capital improvement budget needs to increase by $2.7 million over the next five years to cover the bond payments and remaining capital expenditures up to 2021.
Brian Houghton of Jones and Henry Engineering, which designed and will manage the improvements, explained the city has a pair of agreed orders with Indiana Department of Environmental Management which dictate certain improvements be completed in a specific period of time. The first agreed order, signed in 2008, gives Portland 20 years to eliminate combined sewer overflows in the city. The second order, signed in 2015, requires Portland rectify high ammonia levels detected in the wastewater treated at the city’s plant, which must be brought into compliance by 2018.
The shorter term agreement requires the city first implement its Phase I wastewater plant improvements, installing two new final tanks and converting the existing final tanks into oxidation tanks. Once completed, the city would be able to take its current trickling filters offline, which are inefficient at removing ammonia during cold weather. Currently, the improvements are scheduled to begin later this year.
Once the first agreement is completed, the city will move on to the Harrison Street sewer project in 2018, which is expected to alleviate some of the downtown flooding problems and improve flow of stormwater to the Salamonia River.
Then, Phase II improvements will be implemented at the wastewater plant starting in 2021, adding a new oxidation ditch to the facility and increasing the volume of wastewater the plant could treat each day.
If the city fails to meet the two agreed orders, it will face stiff fines from Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
“This bullet’s headed for us anyway,” said council member Kent McClung. “We’ve got an IDEM agreed order, there’s no way to get around it … I costed out the fines and the fines are way higher (than the capital improvements).”
Rowe suggested two courses of action the city could take in implementing sewer rate increases to cover the added expenditures. One would be to make a one-time increase to cover the immediate costs for the Phase I improvements, and then later consider additional increases in to pay for the projects as they came. The second proposal was the implementation of phased rate increases over a four year period.
“Based on our financial projection models, the city would need to raise rates by $5.75 per year (for a household utilizing 4,000 gallons per month) for the next four years in order to pay for all those projects through 2021,” Rowe said. “It helps from a rate stabilization standpoint, to establish those rates so they’re in place for the next four years. Rate payers will know to expect those rate increases and they can budget accordingly.”
McClung and Mayor Randy Geesaman said they thought the phased rate increase would be the better option, allowing residents and businesses to know exactly how much rates will increase over time rather than being forced to consider new rate increases each year.
Geesaman said the council will likely decide on a final rate increase plan by June, and the increases will be implemented 90 days after council’s approval.
Craig Frazee of Dynamic Business Solutions also presented an overview of the city’s new website to council members Judy Hedges, Janet Powers, Bill Gibson, Judy Aker, Michele Brewster, Don Gillespie and McClung. The revamped website includes new pages for each of the city’s departments and an updated interface to make navigation more user-friendly.
Frazee also highlighted the new features that bring the website up to Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, including zoom capabilities and contrast adjustment.
The new site will allow Geesaman and other city employees to text an alert that will show up on the website’s banner, keeping residents updated on water main breaks, flooding or other important information.
The site also includes tip submission forms for the police department and streets department, allowing residents to submit a tip which is then sent directly to the departments’ respective head.
Council also heard from Donald Gillespie about the upcoming Indiana Run for the Fallen. The run, starting in Fort Wayne and finishing in Indianapolis, will span three days beginning May 12 and ending May 14. Each mile is run in honor of a Hoosier veteran who was killed in the War on Terror.
Gillespie said the run will come to Jay County on the evening of May 12, entering the county at around 3 p.m. and reaching Portland at 4:25 p.m.. There will be a memorial ceremony at Freedom Park at 4:45 p.m. From there, the run will stop for the night and pick back up at 7:30 a.m. May 13, passing Jay County High School around 7:55 a.m. and exiting Jay County at about 10:10 a.m.
Gillespie said community members are welcome to join in during the run, but said they should start at a mile marker and be ready to keep an 8- to an 8-and-a-half minute mile pace.
In other business, council:
•Discussed the upcoming Clean Up week from May 1 through May 5. Geesaman said organizations have volunteered to help residents move large items to the curb for pickup, but only four residents have requested help.
•Also heard from Geesaman the council may consider a new ordinance intended to crack down on blighted properties and implement new requirements for homeowners to keep their properties maintained.
•Heard from Geesaman the city’s neighborhood watch will hold a meeting 7 p.m. Thursday at the Portland Fire Station, with a display from the city’s K-9 officer and a presentation from Purdue Extension.
•Discussed a stretch of Bridge Street between 10th Street and 12th Street where residents park on both sides of the street. Council will debate an ordinance change at its next meeting regarding the traffic logjam that is created by vehicles parked on both sides of the street.
Portland City Council heard a presentation from Umbaugh and Associates at its Monday evening meeting that outlined the city’s current projected wastewater revenue for the next five years and financial needs for major improvements to the city’s sewer system and wastewater treatment plant. The presentation included a pair of possibilities for rate increases that would cover improvements as a part of the city’s ongoing long-term control plans to comply with a pair of agreed orders with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Council also heard an overview of the features on the city’s new website and discussed the upcoming Indiana Run for the Fallen.
Jeff Rowe, a partner with Umbaugh and Associates, the city’s accounting firm, discussed the financial forecast for the city’s wastewater revenue, and presented two possible rate increases that could help cover the cost of major improvements. According to Rowe, the city will need an estimated total of $18.8 million over the next five years to cover two phases of improvements to the wastewater plant and the Harrison Street sewer separation project. According to Umbaugh’s projections, the city will utilize bonds and grant proceeds to cover $16.1 million of the total, and the wastewater capital improvement budget needs to increase by $2.7 million over the next five years to cover the bond payments and remaining capital expenditures up to 2021.
Brian Houghton of Jones and Henry Engineering, which designed and will manage the improvements, explained the city has a pair of agreed orders with Indiana Department of Environmental Management which dictate certain improvements be completed in a specific period of time. The first agreed order, signed in 2008, gives Portland 20 years to eliminate combined sewer overflows in the city. The second order, signed in 2015, requires Portland rectify high ammonia levels detected in the wastewater treated at the city’s plant, which must be brought into compliance by 2018.
The shorter term agreement requires the city first implement its Phase I wastewater plant improvements, installing two new final tanks and converting the existing final tanks into oxidation tanks. Once completed, the city would be able to take its current trickling filters offline, which are inefficient at removing ammonia during cold weather. Currently, the improvements are scheduled to begin later this year.
Once the first agreement is completed, the city will move on to the Harrison Street sewer project in 2018, which is expected to alleviate some of the downtown flooding problems and improve flow of stormwater to the Salamonia River.
Then, Phase II improvements will be implemented at the wastewater plant starting in 2021, adding a new oxidation ditch to the facility and increasing the volume of wastewater the plant could treat each day.
If the city fails to meet the two agreed orders, it will face stiff fines from Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
“This bullet’s headed for us anyway,” said council member Kent McClung. “We’ve got an IDEM agreed order, there’s no way to get around it … I costed out the fines and the fines are way higher (than the capital improvements).”
Rowe suggested two courses of action the city could take in implementing sewer rate increases to cover the added expenditures. One would be to make a one-time increase to cover the immediate costs for the Phase I improvements, and then later consider additional increases in to pay for the projects as they came. The second proposal was the implementation of phased rate increases over a four year period.
“Based on our financial projection models, the city would need to raise rates by $5.75 per year (for a household utilizing 4,000 gallons per month) for the next four years in order to pay for all those projects through 2021,” Rowe said. “It helps from a rate stabilization standpoint, to establish those rates so they’re in place for the next four years. Rate payers will know to expect those rate increases and they can budget accordingly.”
McClung and Mayor Randy Geesaman said they thought the phased rate increase would be the better option, allowing residents and businesses to know exactly how much rates will increase over time rather than being forced to consider new rate increases each year.
Geesaman said the council will likely decide on a final rate increase plan by June, and the increases will be implemented 90 days after council’s approval.
Craig Frazee of Dynamic Business Solutions also presented an overview of the city’s new website to council members Judy Hedges, Janet Powers, Bill Gibson, Judy Aker, Michele Brewster, Don Gillespie and McClung. The revamped website includes new pages for each of the city’s departments and an updated interface to make navigation more user-friendly.
Frazee also highlighted the new features that bring the website up to Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, including zoom capabilities and contrast adjustment.
The new site will allow Geesaman and other city employees to text an alert that will show up on the website’s banner, keeping residents updated on water main breaks, flooding or other important information.
The site also includes tip submission forms for the police department and streets department, allowing residents to submit a tip which is then sent directly to the departments’ respective head.
Council also heard from Donald Gillespie about the upcoming Indiana Run for the Fallen. The run, starting in Fort Wayne and finishing in Indianapolis, will span three days beginning May 12 and ending May 14. Each mile is run in honor of a Hoosier veteran who was killed in the War on Terror.
Gillespie said the run will come to Jay County on the evening of May 12, entering the county at around 3 p.m. and reaching Portland at 4:25 p.m.. There will be a memorial ceremony at Freedom Park at 4:45 p.m. From there, the run will stop for the night and pick back up at 7:30 a.m. May 13, passing Jay County High School around 7:55 a.m. and exiting Jay County at about 10:10 a.m.
Gillespie said community members are welcome to join in during the run, but said they should start at a mile marker and be ready to keep an 8- to an 8-and-a-half minute mile pace.
In other business, council:
•Discussed the upcoming Clean Up week from May 1 through May 5. Geesaman said organizations have volunteered to help residents move large items to the curb for pickup, but only four residents have requested help.
•Also heard from Geesaman the council may consider a new ordinance intended to crack down on blighted properties and implement new requirements for homeowners to keep their properties maintained.
•Heard from Geesaman the city’s neighborhood watch will hold a meeting 7 p.m. Thursday at the Portland Fire Station, with a display from the city’s K-9 officer and a presentation from Purdue Extension.
•Discussed a stretch of Bridge Street between 10th Street and 12th Street where residents park on both sides of the street. Council will debate an ordinance change at its next meeting regarding the traffic logjam that is created by vehicles parked on both sides of the street.
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