January 17, 2017 at 6:25 p.m.
FR plans utility rate increases
FR plans utility rate increases
FORT RECOVERY — After a seven-year break, Fort Recovery residents may be seeing some utility rate increases this year.
Fort Recovery village administrator Randy Diller on Monday presented council with some initial suggestions for rate increases over the next six years.
Council members also continued discussion about park improvements, learned about a recent water plant inspection and reviewed plans for the Williams Street improvement project.
Diller’s initial suggestions for utility rate changes call for gradual increases to move the water rate from its current $17.50 for the first 2,000 gallons of water to $21 by 2022. The sewer rate would go up from the current $7.50 for the first 2,000 gallons to $9 by 2022. There could also be changes to the shut off/turn on fee, utility deposits and tap fees, and the addition of a minimum fee for bulk water.
Diller noted that sewer rates have been frozen since 2010, when an $11-per-bill charge was added to cover debt incurred for the village’s sewer separation project.
“We kind of held back for as long as we could without changing the rates again,” said Diller, adding that he was presenting his suggestions to council for its review and comments at a future meeting. “Well, now we’re in a situation where we need to up revenue a little bit. As you can imagine, in the last seven years expenses haven’t stayed level.”
Village solicitor/grants administrator Erin Minor reported on park survey results to council members Dave Bretz, Dave Garman, Al Post, Cliff Wendel, Scott Pearson and Erik Fiely, telling them that purple was the clear winner in the question about the color to be used for basketball/tennis courts at Community Park.
It got about 65 percent of the vote from 477 respondents.
Among other questions, pool improvements were rated No. 1 on a priority list ahead of a shelter house, lights for an another baseball/softball diamond and new signs for Community Park. In terms of favored projects for the future, extending the recreational trail led a list that also included several items at Fort Site Park, the creation of a dog park and the addition of shuffle board courts.
“I’ve seen a lot of people back there using that,” said Pearson of the trail, “so that’s a good thing.”
“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from folks about it,” added Minor.
Ryan Thien of the village’s water department reported that a recent Ohio Environmental Protection Agency inspection showed three areas that need improvement. Items needing upgrades or replacement include a carbon dioxide tank, sand/anthracite in the filter and an underground caustic storage tank.
Thien and Diller told council members that the first two of those items were already in the plans for this year. Diller said he’s hoping to discuss with the EPA possibilities for delaying the caustic tank replacement because it was not in the budget for this year and the equipment is currently working properly.
“It’s not causing us any issues,” he said. “It’s not effecting the quality of the water being put out in any way.”
Diller reviewed initial plans for improvements to Williams Street, which runs along the east side of the Fort Recovery High School property from Boundary and Butler Streets to Barrenbrugge Athletic Park and the north side of the elementary/middle school. A possible 41-foot-wide roadway — 7-foot parking lanes on each side and 13.5-foot traffic lanes — could cause problems in terms of moving utilities and removing trees he said. But, he added that 13.5 foot lanes are wider than normal and the scope of the project could be reduced.
He plans to meet with Fort Recovery Local Schools superintendent Justin Firks to discuss options and continue working with ChoiceOne Engineering on the project.
In other business, the council:
•Got updates from Minor on several grant applications. The village has applied for grants for a police car, equipment for the fire department and an ambulance. She expects decisions on those by the spring. She is also planning to apply for a NatureWorks grant for new fencing at Ambassador Pool.
•Approved ordinances to annex property, owned by Dave Jutte and his family, along a section of First Street near Wabash Road and to provide a $250 uniform allowance for the village’s part-time police officer.
•Heard from Randy Diller that the village is accepting applications for seasonal employees. The goal is to hire staff for Ambassador Pool as well as part-time help for field preparation and weeding trimming.
•Amended appropriations to move payment of a bill that was expected to be received in 2016 to the current year.
•Corrected an error from a previous meeting when it had named Angie McAbee to a three-year term on the income tax board. Terms on the board are two years.
Fort Recovery village administrator Randy Diller on Monday presented council with some initial suggestions for rate increases over the next six years.
Council members also continued discussion about park improvements, learned about a recent water plant inspection and reviewed plans for the Williams Street improvement project.
Diller’s initial suggestions for utility rate changes call for gradual increases to move the water rate from its current $17.50 for the first 2,000 gallons of water to $21 by 2022. The sewer rate would go up from the current $7.50 for the first 2,000 gallons to $9 by 2022. There could also be changes to the shut off/turn on fee, utility deposits and tap fees, and the addition of a minimum fee for bulk water.
Diller noted that sewer rates have been frozen since 2010, when an $11-per-bill charge was added to cover debt incurred for the village’s sewer separation project.
“We kind of held back for as long as we could without changing the rates again,” said Diller, adding that he was presenting his suggestions to council for its review and comments at a future meeting. “Well, now we’re in a situation where we need to up revenue a little bit. As you can imagine, in the last seven years expenses haven’t stayed level.”
Village solicitor/grants administrator Erin Minor reported on park survey results to council members Dave Bretz, Dave Garman, Al Post, Cliff Wendel, Scott Pearson and Erik Fiely, telling them that purple was the clear winner in the question about the color to be used for basketball/tennis courts at Community Park.
It got about 65 percent of the vote from 477 respondents.
Among other questions, pool improvements were rated No. 1 on a priority list ahead of a shelter house, lights for an another baseball/softball diamond and new signs for Community Park. In terms of favored projects for the future, extending the recreational trail led a list that also included several items at Fort Site Park, the creation of a dog park and the addition of shuffle board courts.
“I’ve seen a lot of people back there using that,” said Pearson of the trail, “so that’s a good thing.”
“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from folks about it,” added Minor.
Ryan Thien of the village’s water department reported that a recent Ohio Environmental Protection Agency inspection showed three areas that need improvement. Items needing upgrades or replacement include a carbon dioxide tank, sand/anthracite in the filter and an underground caustic storage tank.
Thien and Diller told council members that the first two of those items were already in the plans for this year. Diller said he’s hoping to discuss with the EPA possibilities for delaying the caustic tank replacement because it was not in the budget for this year and the equipment is currently working properly.
“It’s not causing us any issues,” he said. “It’s not effecting the quality of the water being put out in any way.”
Diller reviewed initial plans for improvements to Williams Street, which runs along the east side of the Fort Recovery High School property from Boundary and Butler Streets to Barrenbrugge Athletic Park and the north side of the elementary/middle school. A possible 41-foot-wide roadway — 7-foot parking lanes on each side and 13.5-foot traffic lanes — could cause problems in terms of moving utilities and removing trees he said. But, he added that 13.5 foot lanes are wider than normal and the scope of the project could be reduced.
He plans to meet with Fort Recovery Local Schools superintendent Justin Firks to discuss options and continue working with ChoiceOne Engineering on the project.
In other business, the council:
•Got updates from Minor on several grant applications. The village has applied for grants for a police car, equipment for the fire department and an ambulance. She expects decisions on those by the spring. She is also planning to apply for a NatureWorks grant for new fencing at Ambassador Pool.
•Approved ordinances to annex property, owned by Dave Jutte and his family, along a section of First Street near Wabash Road and to provide a $250 uniform allowance for the village’s part-time police officer.
•Heard from Randy Diller that the village is accepting applications for seasonal employees. The goal is to hire staff for Ambassador Pool as well as part-time help for field preparation and weeding trimming.
•Amended appropriations to move payment of a bill that was expected to be received in 2016 to the current year.
•Corrected an error from a previous meeting when it had named Angie McAbee to a three-year term on the income tax board. Terms on the board are two years.
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