Public can speak on fee change
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 3, 2006
Those who are tired of paying $14.55 a month on their water bill will soon have their chance to speak.
An overhaul to the city’s stormwater utility fee is set to be discussed at the Thursday night meeting of the Ironton City Council.
The new plan, introduced in late March by councilman Leo Johnson, would eliminate the city’s $14.55 stormwater utility fee and replace it with a sewer rate increase of $2 per thousand gallons of water used. Johnson has said that the average citizen uses between 4,000 and 5,000 gallons of water monthly, meaning the new plan could save them a few dollars a month.
Local businesses, however, stand to save quite a bit more, as they would no longer be charged $14.55 per 3,000 square feet of impermeable land.
The changes though are not without contention. City engineer Phil Biggs has said that some of the cuts to the combined sewer overflow long-term control plan — including paying for three staff members when the plan originally called for six — are not enough for what the EPA has required.
The plan would be executed in two ordinances, one which would eliminate the fee and increase the rates, and one that would set a flat rate of $10 per month for vacant properties. Both will receive first reading at the meeting.
Also receiving its first reading will be an ordinance that would allow mayor John Elam to except a bid from Fields Excavating Inc. to repair the Railroad Street sewer project.
The funds would come from a 0-percent, 20-year loan $75,000 loan from the Ohio Water Development Authority. The city finance committee recently voted unanimously to recommend the plan.
With a few resolutions on the table the council will also be taking a position on some hot local topics, including passage of the Ironton school bond levy and the MR/DD replacement levy, as well as requesting the Ohio Department of Transportation to proceed with the bidding process regarding construction of the Ironton-Russell bridge.
The council will meet in their chambers in the Ironton City Center at 6 p.m. on Thursday.