Sewer rates will increase

Sewer rates for Portland residents will increase starting with September’s bill.

Portland City Council approved the second reading of the sewer rate hikes at its meeting Monday evening.

Council also tabled a decision to raise wages for seasonal city employees, forwarded a tax abatement for Tyson to the city’s tax abatement advisory committee and tabled a decision on the 2018 payroll ordinance.

Council unanimously approved the second reading of the sewer rate increase ordinance.

The rate increases will help pay for a two-phase expansion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, which currently utilizes obsolete trickling filters and other aging equipment. In addition to the plant expansion, funds will also be used on the Harrison Street sewer separation project, which has been touted by engineers as a major improvement that could alleviate downtown flooding caused by backup and overflow of the Millers Branch sewer line.

The ordinance will implement four consecutive years of rate hikes, estimated at an increase of the monthly rate by $5.25 each year, for an average family that uses 4,000 gallons of water a month. The result after four years will be a a 67-percent increase in sewer rates.

In past meetings, members of the public had expressed skepticism about the necessity of the project and council members had question the scope of proposed improvements to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. But ultimately council decided to approve the rate increases in order to fulfill the city’s obligations in two agreed orders with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Council members Judy Hedges, Janet Powers, Bill Gibson, Judy Aker, Michele Brewster, Kent McClung and Don Gillespie tabled a decision on already-implemented pay raises for the city’s seasonal parks department employees. Portland Park Board recommended pay raises for lifeguards, but council members expressed concern Monday that the board may not have realized the raises would apply to all seasonal employees.

Despite the decision to table the proposal, the city has already been paying lifeguards at the increased rate since the beginning of the season by the order of Mayor Randy Geesaman.