July 4, 2017 at 1:06 a.m.
Council approves first reading of sewer hikes
Final vote to come July 17
Council approves first reading of sewer hikes
Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
Portland City Council approved the first reading of a sewer rate increase ordinance that will fund an overhaul of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, after delaying a vote on the proposal for three consecutive meetings.
Council heard an explanation of the improvement project at its Monday night meeting from Jones & Henry, the engineering firm that designed it. It will vote on the second and final reading of the ordinance at its next meeting.
Council also forwarded a pair of tax abatement proposals to the city’s tax abatement advisory committee and established a new motor vehicle fund to receive road improvement money from the state’s gas tax and vehicle registration fee increases.
Brian Houghton, principal engineer at Jones & Henry, showed council a series of maps and charts that outlined the current state of the city’s wastewater infrastructure and the proposed improvements.
Houghton said that the city’s wastewater treatment plant was built in 1955, after the passage of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. Before 1955, the city’s wastewater flowed directly into the Salamonie River without any form of treatment. In 1980, the plant was further upgraded, but since then has not seen a major overhaul.
The plans for improvement will take certain aspects of the original 1955 construction out of service, including obsolete trickling filters that struggle to properly treat wastewater during cold weather.
“We’ll convert the aeration tanks, from the 1980s. The concrete’s in pretty good shape there. We’ll convert those over to aerated grit. The final settling tanks will be converted into gravity sludge stickers, for thickening sludge. We’re going to add in two new final clarifiers,” Houghton said. “The pump station needs to be expanded because you need to be able to (pump) your wet weather flows out of your collection system.”
The improvements will help satisfy two agreed orders with Indiana Department of Environmental Management, one from 2008 requiring elimination of combined sewer overflows during dry weather periods by 2028, and one from 2016 requiring the city to address high ammonia levels that caused a fish kill in the Salamonie River.
Houghton also outlined plans for the proposed Harrison Street sewer separation project, which is expected to alleviate stormwater flow through the Millers Branch drainage line, that backs up and contributes to flooding in the city’s downtown area.
Council members Judy Hedges, Janet Powers, Bill Gibson, Judy Aker, Michele Brewster and Don Gillespie, absent Kent McClung, approved the first reading of the ordinance to increase rates in order to fund the improvements.
The ordinance, if approved on second reading at city council’s July 17 meeting, will implement four consecutive years of rate hikes, estimated at an increase of the monthly rate by $5.25 each year for four years, for an average family that uses 4,000 gallons of water a month.
The result after four years would be a a 67-percent increase in sewer rates.
Council also heard a tax abatement proposal from Jay County Development Corporation executive director Bill Bradley on behalf of Carrera Manufacturing, formerly known as W & M Manufacturing. The company plans to add a 40,778 square foot expansion to accommodate additional manufacturing distribution and purchase additional equipment. The abatement is split into two separate parts for real property and personal property improvements. The abatement on equipment would save the company $8,789 over a five-year period, and the larger abatement on the facility expansion would save about $237,000 over a ten-year period.
Council voted to forward the request the Portland tax abatement advisory committee, and will make a final decision on the proposals at its July 17 meeting.
Mayor Randy Geesaman discussed the need for establishing a new motor vehicle highway fund, separate from the city’s current one.
The new fund will be used to track additional distributions from the state’s new 10 cent gas increase and $15 registration fee increase.
Council suspended the rules in order to pass the ordinance in one meeting, and approved the proposal.
In other business, council:
•Approved the closure of certain streets in Portland for the Jay Community Center 5K run on Tuesday.
•Heard a summary of Geesaman’s trip to D.C. He said he is optimistic about continuing dialogue with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge and improve the banks of the Salamonie River. He also met with representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, Economic Development Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Transportation.
•Approved claims totaling $1,349,524.52.
All Rights Reserved
Portland City Council approved the first reading of a sewer rate increase ordinance that will fund an overhaul of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, after delaying a vote on the proposal for three consecutive meetings.
Council heard an explanation of the improvement project at its Monday night meeting from Jones & Henry, the engineering firm that designed it. It will vote on the second and final reading of the ordinance at its next meeting.
Council also forwarded a pair of tax abatement proposals to the city’s tax abatement advisory committee and established a new motor vehicle fund to receive road improvement money from the state’s gas tax and vehicle registration fee increases.
Brian Houghton, principal engineer at Jones & Henry, showed council a series of maps and charts that outlined the current state of the city’s wastewater infrastructure and the proposed improvements.
Houghton said that the city’s wastewater treatment plant was built in 1955, after the passage of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. Before 1955, the city’s wastewater flowed directly into the Salamonie River without any form of treatment. In 1980, the plant was further upgraded, but since then has not seen a major overhaul.
The plans for improvement will take certain aspects of the original 1955 construction out of service, including obsolete trickling filters that struggle to properly treat wastewater during cold weather.
“We’ll convert the aeration tanks, from the 1980s. The concrete’s in pretty good shape there. We’ll convert those over to aerated grit. The final settling tanks will be converted into gravity sludge stickers, for thickening sludge. We’re going to add in two new final clarifiers,” Houghton said. “The pump station needs to be expanded because you need to be able to (pump) your wet weather flows out of your collection system.”
The improvements will help satisfy two agreed orders with Indiana Department of Environmental Management, one from 2008 requiring elimination of combined sewer overflows during dry weather periods by 2028, and one from 2016 requiring the city to address high ammonia levels that caused a fish kill in the Salamonie River.
Houghton also outlined plans for the proposed Harrison Street sewer separation project, which is expected to alleviate stormwater flow through the Millers Branch drainage line, that backs up and contributes to flooding in the city’s downtown area.
Council members Judy Hedges, Janet Powers, Bill Gibson, Judy Aker, Michele Brewster and Don Gillespie, absent Kent McClung, approved the first reading of the ordinance to increase rates in order to fund the improvements.
The ordinance, if approved on second reading at city council’s July 17 meeting, will implement four consecutive years of rate hikes, estimated at an increase of the monthly rate by $5.25 each year for four years, for an average family that uses 4,000 gallons of water a month.
The result after four years would be a a 67-percent increase in sewer rates.
Council also heard a tax abatement proposal from Jay County Development Corporation executive director Bill Bradley on behalf of Carrera Manufacturing, formerly known as W & M Manufacturing. The company plans to add a 40,778 square foot expansion to accommodate additional manufacturing distribution and purchase additional equipment. The abatement is split into two separate parts for real property and personal property improvements. The abatement on equipment would save the company $8,789 over a five-year period, and the larger abatement on the facility expansion would save about $237,000 over a ten-year period.
Council voted to forward the request the Portland tax abatement advisory committee, and will make a final decision on the proposals at its July 17 meeting.
Mayor Randy Geesaman discussed the need for establishing a new motor vehicle highway fund, separate from the city’s current one.
The new fund will be used to track additional distributions from the state’s new 10 cent gas increase and $15 registration fee increase.
Council suspended the rules in order to pass the ordinance in one meeting, and approved the proposal.
In other business, council:
•Approved the closure of certain streets in Portland for the Jay Community Center 5K run on Tuesday.
•Heard a summary of Geesaman’s trip to D.C. He said he is optimistic about continuing dialogue with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge and improve the banks of the Salamonie River. He also met with representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, Economic Development Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Transportation.
•Approved claims totaling $1,349,524.52.
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