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Sewer rate increase officially approved by City Council

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Seven dollar bills and three quarters — that’s how much a user of 6,000 gallons of water in Charles City will see their monthly sewer bill rise starting in March.

The City Council approved the final reading of an ordinance Wednesday that increases customers’ sewer bills by a flat rate of 20 percent.

The council also set a public hearing for consideration of the fiscal year 2019-20 city budget for 6 p.m. Monday, March 4.

The proposed new budget includes an increase in the overall city property tax rate of less than half a percent, going up 7 cents from the current $15.83 to $15.90 per $1,000 of assessed taxable valuation.

For the sewer rate increase, a customer who uses 6,000 gallons of water a month, for example, would see their current bill of $38.62 increase to $46.37.

The extra revenue will help pay for the $20.5 million water resource recovery facility (WRRF) that has a planned completion date of 2022. The expansion and reconstruction of the proposed wastewater treatment plant will require a loan of $19 million, which the higher rates will pay off, according to City Administrator Steve Diers.

“It’s a good amount, but it’s not overly huge,” Diers said. “It’s at least palatable — it is what it is.”

Diers said Iowa Department of Natural Resources rules regarding wastewater nutrient reduction need to be met, and the city’s aging wastewater plant can’t do that, despite being maintained in what he called “fantastic condition.”

The 20 percent increase in the minimum monthly charge affects the base and variable sewer rates and takes effect on March 1. The new rate charge will show up on customers’ April bills. Commercial rates will also increase.

The council also approved a bid to trim 2,832 trees that are located along streets in the city’s right-of-way. City code states that trees need to be trimmed above the street to a height of 15 feet and 8 feet above the sidewalks.

The low quote that was accepted came from Cedar Creek Tree Service and was for $150,096. The only other bid was from Deutsch Tree and Timber for $269,040.

Trees will be trimmed in two phases, the first starting in spring and the second in the fall.

This will affect the 2018-19 fiscal year budget when the trees are trimmed in the spring and the 2019-20 budget when the trees are cut in the fall. An amount of $75,000 was budgeted for each fiscal year to do the work on the trees. The price per tree is $53.

The city will pay the cost of the tree service with road use taxes. The city could also recoup the cost by billing adjacent property homeowners.

There’s a discrepancy in the city code that requires property owners to maintain the heights of the lower branches on trees in the city rights-of-way, but also requires licensed contractors to do the work.

“The reality is most people aren’t going to want to trim those trees,” Diers said.

Council member DeLaine Freeseman said the city should amend the tree-trimming ordinance and bring it in line with what the city is going to be doing.

Council member Michael Hammond said a change needs to be made to allow city residents the ability to cut or trim trees in the right of way on their property.

“We haven’t been managing this ordinance for several years. We’re going to bite the bullet on this one — time to take care of it,” said Hammond. “We will allow property owners to maintain their trees. Going forward it will be their responsibility to treat it similar to a long grass nuisance. We need to bring this back and actually finalize this and get it to that standard we’re looking for.”

All bids were rejected for a drainage improvement project in the Southwest Development Park. City Engineer John Fallis’ estimated cost for the project was $384,000, but of the 13 bids received, the lowest was $427,364 from Reilly Construction of Ossian.

The project’s aim was to limit downstream stormwater runoff and minimize localized flooding near Winnebago Industries on Corporate Drive by creating new detention basins to help release the water at a slower rate. Improvements to existing drainage ways and a new culvert under 11th Street were also part of the plan.

The council did accept a bid to complete the 2019 Wayfinding Signage Project for $157,428, by Signs and More of Independence.

The Corbin Group helped develop the wayfinding plan that would place gateway/welcome signs, vehicular guide signs, parking lot identification signs and information kiosks around Charles City.

The council gave the go-ahead to submit a grant application for more TAP (Transportation Alternative Program) funding to construct the Charley Western Recreation Trail Bridge. Charles City could be eligible for another $250,000 with this current application that is due to the North Iowa Area Council of Governments by March 1.

The Charley Western Recreation Bridge is set to be completed in the summer of 2020. The $1.35 million project has already received $249,000 from TAP funding.

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