Dunkirk considering utility fee

Dunkirk officials are considering adding a new utility fee to help pay for flood mitigation and other needed upgrades in the city.

Dunkirk City Council on Monday approved a $7,500 contract with accounting and consulting firm Baker Tilley to conduct a study determining the proper rates and procedure for creating a stormwater utility fee.

Also Monday, council members approved a raise for city employees and the addition of a new position to oversee the parks.

John Seever, a certified public accountant, said Dunkirk is in the minority of Indiana cities by not having a stormwater utility rate. Council will have several options when it comes to implementing the fee, including the amount of the fee itself and whether to charge residential and non-residential units the same way. The charge could be included on the monthly utility fees, through the county with property taxes or another hybrid method, Seever said, and Baker Tilley will help advise council on which route to take.

Dunkirk Mayor Jack Robbins and council member Brian Jessup explained the reasoning behind the potential new utility fee, pointing out that it is part of the city’s five-year plan. Because of improper flow and old and clogged drains, flooding has been a major problem in the city. To fix those issues, Dunkirk will need grants.

“The problem is the solutions to do that require money, money that we don’t have … We don’t have millions of dollars to put into this to alleviate flooding,” Jessup said. “(The stormwater utility fee is) not really that much money but it’s going to build up and allow us to come up with money for matching grants or money to get started on working on these projects instead of talking about them.”

Also discussed was the increase of the city’s existing utilities. The water rate will go up by 5% — part of a three-year planned increase — and the sewer rate will increase by 2%. Both will most likely go into effect this summer. 

Council also implemented some changes in regard to city personnel. First on the agenda was a 2% raise for all city employees, including the mayor and council, for 2021. It will cost $17,734.56. 

Also approved was a new position to oversee the parks department under the supervision of the street department at an estimated annual salary of $27,000, plus benefits. The parks department will contribute $9,000 and council will provide the rest using funds from the street department’s budget. Council member Tom Johnson, who has overseen the parks department for years, will help train the new employee after they are hired. 

“Right now there’s only guy that knows about the pool, and that’s Tom Johnson,” Robbins said, explaining the necessity of the hire. 

In other business, council members Jesse Bivens, Kevin Hamilton, Bivens and Johnson, absent Lisa Street: 

•OK’d purchases approved by Dunkirk Board of Works and Safety: $11,802 on a 5-year payment plan for new Tazers, $2,538 for portable radios and $3,185 for a new camera system for Dunkirk Police Department and $13,112 for a pump for the water department. 

•Approved an ordinance allowing the board of works and safety to make purchases up to $5,000 without council approval. The expenditures will still have to be approved with the monthly claims.

•Agreed, per Robbins’ suggestion, to limit sponsorships and donations from the mayor’s promotional fund to $300.

•Approved providing a $300 sponsorship for the Dunkirk Community Concerns & Food Bank, which needs money to purchase perishable items, $100 for the Dunkirk Easter Egg Hunt, which will be at 2 p.m. April 4, and $300 to A Better Life – Brianna’s Hope. 

•Heard from Kristina Sargent, who noted that semi truck drivers who park at the former Indiana Glass lot on Eighth Street hit the electric poles there several times a year, knocking out power on the block. She said several of the area residents use oxygen and sleep apnea machines, and have to go without when accidents occur. Robbins said he would talk to the lot owner and American Electric Power about the situation. 

•OK’d allowing Dunkirk Fire Department to have a boot drive fundraiser from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday at the intersection of Main and Commerce streets. 

•Heard from Robbins, who has been working with Ardagh Glass Co. to reduce the number of semi trucks on residential streets. He said creating a 911 address for Ardagh’s warehouse kept drivers coming from the north, east and west on the truck route, but those coming from the south were still misdirected by their GPS. Robbins said he is still working on a solution. 

•Approved payments of $1,425 for work on the pool’s concession stand ceiling and $969.57 to PPG Paints in Muncie for pool paint.