Appeal denied

A sewer rate increase will go into effect Wednesday, but county officials still want to work to provide some financial relief to those involved.

Jay County Council expressed frustration with the situation Monday while denying an appeal to the rate increases and thus allowing them to become effective as approved earlier this year by Jay County Regional Sewer District.

The decision on the appeal had to be based on whether the rates were “just and equitable” to cover the sewer district’s costs of operation. Council members agreed that the district board had simply done what it needed to in order to pay the bills.

“The appeal is denied, but at the same time as president of the council I would love to sit down with the sewer district board and commissioners and see if we can come up with a way to mitigate this cost to where people can afford it,” said Jeanne Houchins.

The sewer district board in February approved the increases, which were initially scheduled to go into effect May 1. It later voted to postpone the increases three months to allow a committee to check for problems with the way the sewer system is functioning and try to come up with other financial solutions. Thus far, no major issues have been found with the sewer system. No concrete suggestions for financial relief were brought up Monday.

The increases will result in monthly rates of $88 for district members in the Dunkirk area and $80.50 for those in the Skeens addition area southwest of Portland. The current rate for all regional sewer district members is $76.75.

Dunkirk area rates will go up to $101.85 on Jan. 1. Portland area rates will see additional increases to $84.30 on Jan. 1, $88.45 for 2020 and $92.90 in 2021.

Those coincide with rate increases for the two cities, which handle treatment of sewage from the district customers in their respective areas.

Derek Rodgers and Phil Ford, both of whom are district customers, asked for county officials to continue to try to offer some relief, saying that the financial burden is too cumbersome for some of their neighbors. Rodgers pointed out that the county would have been on the hook for Indiana Department of Environmental Management fines had the district not been formed, suggesting that the county should bear more of the financial burden.

“For most of the people in our neighborhood, it’s a huge load for them,” he said. “It’s $100 a month to flush.”

The rate increase that will now go into effect Wednesday is the first for the district since sewer service began for the group of 74 rural Portland and Dunkirk customers in late 2011 and early 2012.

The regional sewer district board approved a 22-percent rate increase in July 2013, but it was invalidated when customers were not properly notified. The board then rejected the same increase three months later.

Council member Gary Theurer, who cast the lone vote against the motion to deny the appeal with Faron Parr, Ted Champ, Mike Rockwell, Bob Vance and Houchins in favor and Cindy Newton absent, expressed frustration. Theurer was a county commissioner in 2004 when the formation of the district was mandated by IDEM after a problem with a septic system in the Foxfire Addition southwest of Portland led to raw sewage flowing into a nearby creek. The state has since changed course and is no longer requiring sewer districts in similar situations.

“I feel bad, because the state forced the county to do something,” he said. “And then the state backtracks. … And it’s too late.

“I’m just frustrated for the way the whole thing’s went down.”

The sewer district has been a contentious topic from the start, and finances have been a frequent issues. The county has already helped out the district to the tune of $75,000 with a $25,000 loan in 2013, a $25,000 grant in 2015 and the additional $25,000 earlier this year.