A public hearing was held over water rate adjustments prior to last night’s Winamac Town Council meeting.
The adjustments to the water raters are being proposed as a way to cover the town’s water project. Eric Walsh from Umbaugh and Associates was present and provided some details about the $1.6 million water project.
He explained that the town has been planning for this project for many years, which assisted them in receiving a grant from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs in the amount of $550,000. He added that the remainder of the project will be covered by borrowing from the electric utility at 1% interest rate. He said this will cause water rates to rise slightly.
Walsh said, “It is resulting in about a 9 percent, little less than 9 percent increase on your water bills. So to an average residential customer [using] about 5,000 gallons a month, that’s a $3 a month of an increase.”
Walsh said if the town hadn’t pre-planned or received the OCRA grant, rates could have increased by about 20 percent, costing the average customer to pay $6 to $7 more. He said no one likes to increase rates, but he commended the council members for the proactive steps they took to keep the increases from being doubled.
The owner of Proscapes, Jason Potthoff presented a concern about the section of the ordinance that deals with backflow testing. He brought up the section that discusses backflow testing for residents and said it includes an initial cost of $35. He stated that the going rate for that kind of test is anywhere from $50 to $75 dollars for residential testing and more than $100 for commercial backflow testing. He worried that the town offering them at such a low rate would result in the certified members of his team losing business.
Town Attorney Justin Schramm added that offering them at a lower rate really wouldn’t be beneficial for the town. Councilwoman Judy Heater explained that when they proposed the testing, they were under the impression that no one else in town offered the service. She said it would be better if the town’s fee reflected average prices so that citizens could then choose who to go with without there being a major difference in the cost.
The council members decided to take Pothoff’s concern under advisement. They removed the section about backflow testing from the ordinance. Water Department Superintendent Jeremy Beckner said he would construct a more suitable fee schedule that takes into consideration the running rates as well as the differences between residential and commercial testing.
After removing the section about backflow testing, town council members voted unanimously to pass the water rate ordinance. Once Superintendent Beckner finishes researching and writing up a backflow fee schedule, an amendment to the ordinance can be made at a later date.
