June 20, 2017 at 3:19 a.m.
Council holds off on hikes
Council holds off on hikes
Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
Sewer rates won’t change for the time being after no decision was made on proposed hikes.
For the second consecutive meeting, Portland City Council did not take a vote Monday night on the proposed sewer rate increases that would pay for planned improvements to the city’s wastewater treatment plant after a motion died for lack of a second.
Council also voted to make an offer to purchase land bordering the Portland Municipal Airport and tabled a change to the city’s payroll ordinance that would allow seasonal employees to work more than 29 hours per week.
The funding for a series of improvements at the city’s wastewater plants was planned to come through 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 would be a a 67-percent increase in sewer rates.
Portland would also have to finance the remaining cost with $16.1 million in bonds or borrowing. According to a fact sheet prepared by Mayor Randy Geesaman, the city would pay $543,700 on the bonds and loans yearly, paying the debt off in approximately 30 years.
The need for some of the improvements stems from mandates from the state of Indiana.
Portland is under a pair of agreed orders with Indiana Department of Environmental Management regarding its wastewater treatment plant and sewer infrastructure. The first agreed order stems from a series of dry weather combined sewer overflow discharges in 2008. A combined sewer collects both stormwater and wastewater within the same sewer lines. The high volume of stormwater during high rains can cause the lines to overflow into the Salamonie River. In the past, it was thought that dilution would reduce the harmful effects of the wastewater that was intermixed with stormwater. More recent scientific advances have found that dilution itself is not enough to prevent harmful material from entering the river and other waterways. The order requires that Portland eliminate all combined sewer discharges by 2028.
The second order was agreed upon in 2016 after IDEM tests found high ammonia levels in water treated at the city plant. That order requires the city to fix the problem with ammonia levels as soon as possible.
City officials say the main cause of the high ammonia levels is a pair of trickling filters at the wastewater treatment plant. The trickling filters function poorly during cold weather, which is when the city has seen the bulk of its high ammonia levels.
Jones & Henry Engineers were contracted to update a long-term control plan with IDEM that would fulfill both agreed orders. The updated plan calls for a two-phase improvement to the city’s wastewater plant and additional capital improvement projects into the mid 2020s.
Phase I of the improvements would solve the ammonia problem by installing new final clarifiers and additional aeration basin volume, at an estimated price tag of $3.3 million.
Phase II would add a new oxidation ditch, headworks and UV disinfection system, at a cost of approximately $9.5 million.
During discussion of the proposed four-year progressive rate increases, council member Janet Powers expressed reservations with the estimated $18 million in proposed improvements to the city’s wastewater plant and the financial impact of having to borrow so much money.
“I hate to commit the city for $18 million when we could find maybe other options or alternatives,” Powers said. “Rather than us making a decision to increase rates and commit to a new sewage plant when there are other issues.”
Mayor Randy Geesaman said the city has to complete the phase I portion of the wastewater treatment plant improvements in order to avoid noncompliance and ensuing fines from IDEM.
But he also said the phase II improvements, though part of the IDEM approved long-term control plan, are not explicitly mandated through an agreed order.
“Right now IDEM says, ‘as long as you satisfy the 2016 agreed order, that’s what you have to get done, now if you’re gonna amend your long term control plan … you’ve got to let us know that,’ but we do have that option,” Geesaman said. “(The long term control plan) still can be revised after this agreed order too … As long as we do phase I, we’ve satisfied IDEM for at least now, but if we change from then on and don’t go any further, we have to let them know why and what our plans are from there.”
Geesaman added that Portland Board of Works received a second concurring opinion on Jones & Henry’s Engineers’ proposals from Gene Amlin, a retired engineer who previously worked on city projects.
Bill Gibson said both phases of the project are important, and estimated that completion of the full project would still only buy the city 15 to 20 years in time before additional improvements are necessary.
Gibson motioned for a vote on the proposed sewer rate increases, but council members Don Gillespie, Judy Aker, Janet Powers and Judy Hedges did not second the motion. Kent McClung and Michele Brewster were absent from Monday’s meeting.
Council will discuss the proposed rate increases again at its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. July 3.
Council also voted to offer $118,000 for 1.35 acres of land adjacent to the Portland Municipal Airport and owned by Donna Michaels. The land has a house on it, and Portland Aviation Board president John Lyons spoke to council about the possible uses for the land.
One of those would be the addition of a transient hangar, would allow planes to stay in Portland overnight. Currently, with most of the commercial hangars filled, planes have nowhere to park during inclement weather.
“POET comes in weekly, multiple times a week. A lot of times they go back to Iowa because there’s no place to put their airplane. We have no de-icing facility. The hangars are all full for commercial aircraft so they (POET) leave. Then they come back to pick their people up,” Lyons said. “A lot of big airports in little communities like this have a transient hangar … In my opinion, this ground is an ideal spot to built a commercial hangar or a transient hangar.”
Lyons added that the nightly charge for using the transient hangar could exceed $500 for each airplane. Council agreed that it seems likely the investment will be recouped and approved an offer of $118,000 for the land. The value was determined by the average of two appraisals of the land, in accordance with city policy.
Council also discussed a change to the city’s payroll ordinance that would specify the difference between part-time and seasonal workers, allowing seasonal workers to work more than 29 hours per week without qualifying for benefits.
Hedges expressed concern with the language of the proposed ordinance, and questioned if other part-time city workers would also fall into the same category if they exceeded 29 hours per week.
Council decided to wait until Portland Park Board could weigh in on the issue. Park board did not meet in June because it lacked a quorum, but Geesaman said he will try to schedule a special park board meeting before the start of July.
In other business, council:
•Took under consideration a request from Steve Craig to vacate the alleyway at 907 E. Race St.
•Approved an interlocal agreement with Dunkirk to take over all the cases from the now-abolished Dunkirk City Court. Portland City Court will receive the revenue in fines from the cases.
•Approved the closure of the alley south of Pit’s Cocktail Lounge for a corn hole tournament from noon to 10 p.m. July 8. The tournament is planned to start around 4 p.m.
•Heard from Geesaman that the water line replacement project on Main Street is complete. He also said it may not be until next summer that Main Street is repaved.
All Rights Reserved
Sewer rates won’t change for the time being after no decision was made on proposed hikes.
For the second consecutive meeting, Portland City Council did not take a vote Monday night on the proposed sewer rate increases that would pay for planned improvements to the city’s wastewater treatment plant after a motion died for lack of a second.
Council also voted to make an offer to purchase land bordering the Portland Municipal Airport and tabled a change to the city’s payroll ordinance that would allow seasonal employees to work more than 29 hours per week.
The funding for a series of improvements at the city’s wastewater plants was planned to come through 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 would be a a 67-percent increase in sewer rates.
Portland would also have to finance the remaining cost with $16.1 million in bonds or borrowing. According to a fact sheet prepared by Mayor Randy Geesaman, the city would pay $543,700 on the bonds and loans yearly, paying the debt off in approximately 30 years.
The need for some of the improvements stems from mandates from the state of Indiana.
Portland is under a pair of agreed orders with Indiana Department of Environmental Management regarding its wastewater treatment plant and sewer infrastructure. The first agreed order stems from a series of dry weather combined sewer overflow discharges in 2008. A combined sewer collects both stormwater and wastewater within the same sewer lines. The high volume of stormwater during high rains can cause the lines to overflow into the Salamonie River. In the past, it was thought that dilution would reduce the harmful effects of the wastewater that was intermixed with stormwater. More recent scientific advances have found that dilution itself is not enough to prevent harmful material from entering the river and other waterways. The order requires that Portland eliminate all combined sewer discharges by 2028.
The second order was agreed upon in 2016 after IDEM tests found high ammonia levels in water treated at the city plant. That order requires the city to fix the problem with ammonia levels as soon as possible.
City officials say the main cause of the high ammonia levels is a pair of trickling filters at the wastewater treatment plant. The trickling filters function poorly during cold weather, which is when the city has seen the bulk of its high ammonia levels.
Jones & Henry Engineers were contracted to update a long-term control plan with IDEM that would fulfill both agreed orders. The updated plan calls for a two-phase improvement to the city’s wastewater plant and additional capital improvement projects into the mid 2020s.
Phase I of the improvements would solve the ammonia problem by installing new final clarifiers and additional aeration basin volume, at an estimated price tag of $3.3 million.
Phase II would add a new oxidation ditch, headworks and UV disinfection system, at a cost of approximately $9.5 million.
During discussion of the proposed four-year progressive rate increases, council member Janet Powers expressed reservations with the estimated $18 million in proposed improvements to the city’s wastewater plant and the financial impact of having to borrow so much money.
“I hate to commit the city for $18 million when we could find maybe other options or alternatives,” Powers said. “Rather than us making a decision to increase rates and commit to a new sewage plant when there are other issues.”
Mayor Randy Geesaman said the city has to complete the phase I portion of the wastewater treatment plant improvements in order to avoid noncompliance and ensuing fines from IDEM.
But he also said the phase II improvements, though part of the IDEM approved long-term control plan, are not explicitly mandated through an agreed order.
“Right now IDEM says, ‘as long as you satisfy the 2016 agreed order, that’s what you have to get done, now if you’re gonna amend your long term control plan … you’ve got to let us know that,’ but we do have that option,” Geesaman said. “(The long term control plan) still can be revised after this agreed order too … As long as we do phase I, we’ve satisfied IDEM for at least now, but if we change from then on and don’t go any further, we have to let them know why and what our plans are from there.”
Geesaman added that Portland Board of Works received a second concurring opinion on Jones & Henry’s Engineers’ proposals from Gene Amlin, a retired engineer who previously worked on city projects.
Bill Gibson said both phases of the project are important, and estimated that completion of the full project would still only buy the city 15 to 20 years in time before additional improvements are necessary.
Gibson motioned for a vote on the proposed sewer rate increases, but council members Don Gillespie, Judy Aker, Janet Powers and Judy Hedges did not second the motion. Kent McClung and Michele Brewster were absent from Monday’s meeting.
Council will discuss the proposed rate increases again at its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. July 3.
Council also voted to offer $118,000 for 1.35 acres of land adjacent to the Portland Municipal Airport and owned by Donna Michaels. The land has a house on it, and Portland Aviation Board president John Lyons spoke to council about the possible uses for the land.
One of those would be the addition of a transient hangar, would allow planes to stay in Portland overnight. Currently, with most of the commercial hangars filled, planes have nowhere to park during inclement weather.
“POET comes in weekly, multiple times a week. A lot of times they go back to Iowa because there’s no place to put their airplane. We have no de-icing facility. The hangars are all full for commercial aircraft so they (POET) leave. Then they come back to pick their people up,” Lyons said. “A lot of big airports in little communities like this have a transient hangar … In my opinion, this ground is an ideal spot to built a commercial hangar or a transient hangar.”
Lyons added that the nightly charge for using the transient hangar could exceed $500 for each airplane. Council agreed that it seems likely the investment will be recouped and approved an offer of $118,000 for the land. The value was determined by the average of two appraisals of the land, in accordance with city policy.
Council also discussed a change to the city’s payroll ordinance that would specify the difference between part-time and seasonal workers, allowing seasonal workers to work more than 29 hours per week without qualifying for benefits.
Hedges expressed concern with the language of the proposed ordinance, and questioned if other part-time city workers would also fall into the same category if they exceeded 29 hours per week.
Council decided to wait until Portland Park Board could weigh in on the issue. Park board did not meet in June because it lacked a quorum, but Geesaman said he will try to schedule a special park board meeting before the start of July.
In other business, council:
•Took under consideration a request from Steve Craig to vacate the alleyway at 907 E. Race St.
•Approved an interlocal agreement with Dunkirk to take over all the cases from the now-abolished Dunkirk City Court. Portland City Court will receive the revenue in fines from the cases.
•Approved the closure of the alley south of Pit’s Cocktail Lounge for a corn hole tournament from noon to 10 p.m. July 8. The tournament is planned to start around 4 p.m.
•Heard from Geesaman that the water line replacement project on Main Street is complete. He also said it may not be until next summer that Main Street is repaved.
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