City eyes sewer rates

Increases will be delayed, lowered

The Crescent City Council is poised to set a new schedule for sewer rates Monday that would delay and lower a planned increase in fees for customers.

In 2007, the council approved increasing monthly sewer rates by  nearly $30 over three years for single-family residents to pay for a $43 million renovation of the city’s wastewater treatment facility.

But at the council’s Nov. 2 meeting, city officials announced a change in the terms of a State Revolving Loan agreement that extended the repayment from 20 to 30 years. The result of this deal meant the city would have to pay less on a yearly basis, and sewer rates would not increase as once expected.

Currently sewer rates are set at $56.70 a month for city residents and $47.95 for county customers. In January, these fees were set to rise to $63.20 and $54.45, respectively, and in June they were going to increase again to $69.70 and $60.95.

With the new loan terms, the city will now consider eliminating the January increase and delaying the June hike and decreasing it to $3.25. This would leave city residents paying $59.95 a month starting Jan. 1, 2011, and those in the county with a bill of $51.20.

“You can’t help but be pleased with the fact that it’s only going to go up by $20 dollars” for sewage plant expansion, Public Works Director Jim Barnts said, “because from the beginning we always talked about it going up by $30, so it’s good.”

Barnts added that rates might increase slightly beyond the 2011 figure to help pay for rising costs of maintenance and operations, but he said that might only be $10 over a 10-year timeframe.

On Monday, the City Council will also look at paying Vanir Construction Management, Inc. $45,997 to conduct a study that would analyze the possibility of building a new civic center and public safety facility that would replace the current City Hall, Police Department and Housing Authority.

As part of the study, Vanir Construction would identify potential sites for the new facility and provide a financial projection to determine whether the undertaking would be feasible.

If you go 

WHAT: Crescent City Council meeting

WHEN: 6 p.m. Monday

WHERE: Flynn Administration Center, 981 H Street