{"id":172617,"date":"2023-11-14T04:41:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T09:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=172617"},"modified":"2023-11-15T04:41:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T09:41:19","slug":"city-council-hears-about-water-rate-increase-shutoff-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2023\/11\/14\/city-council-hears-about-water-rate-increase-shutoff-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Water rate increase, shutoff policy outlined"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If approved by Van Wert City Council, water rates will increase in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Monday night\u2019s regular council meeting, Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming said the city has raised rates just once over the last 10-12 years, with that being a $1 increase to pay for the citywide water meter upgrade. He said due to THMs and inflation, it\u2019s time for an increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m recommending that we raise water rates only (not sewer) by 10 percent and we\u2019d like to put that into effect before the year is over,\u201d Fleming said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming talks to city council about a proposed water rate increase. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The increase would amount to at least a $1.80 a month, based on water usage. He requested council members discuss the proposal at a future meeting and act on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fleming also presented council members with proposed new water department rules and regulations, which became necessary when the city installed new water meters and switched to a monthly billing system. Included in the regulations is a new shutoff policy for non-payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen is you\u2019re going to get a bill in January and if you don\u2019t pay that bill in January \u2013 you\u2019ll have your normal 15 days to pay it, then after 15 days a 10 percent penalty will be put on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t pay it during the month of January those delinquent accounts will receive a bill February 1, which is also going to serve as a disconnect notice. They\u2019ll have 15 days in February to pay that bill but anytime after the 15th, we\u2019re going to go out and do shutoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be clearly marked on the bill that you\u2019re delinquent,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be nicer that we were before in some cases \u2013 you\u2019re going to have a little more time here. We\u2019re not going to play the backup game where everybody runs one month behind on bills, so you\u2019re going to have to be completely current to get your water turned back on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

He also said water shutoffs will not occur on a Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While on the subject of water, Fleming said the city is now under \u201cFindings and Orders\u201d by the Ohio EPA, because THM (total trihalomethanes) levels have exceeded drinking water standards for four quarters. The levels detected do not pose an immediate risk to your health, but he said the city now has to follow certain steps to get back in compliance and he said a consulting firm has been hired to assist the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey (EPA) want to see three alternatives to get us back in compliance, we have to break all of those down and we have to do a pilot study for up to 12 months to confirm the method we select to reduce THMs is going to work,\u201d Fleming said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to that, Fleming said the city also received notice from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources than an inundation study of the reservoir is now required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat that means is we have to do a complete full blown model of what happens if the reservoir bank is breached under certain rain events, how much damage is going to be done,\u201d Fleming explained. \u201cWe have to model the stream, how high is that water going to come up, what bridges are affected, what homes are going to be affected. It\u2019s going to be in excess of a $50,000 study that\u2019s going have to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He later said in all likelihood, the results of the study will wind up sitting on a shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his report to council, Mayor Ken Markward gave a reminder about electric aggregation and noted it\u2019s optional. He said residents may have received mail about the best rates, but said each household gets to decide for themselves about what\u2019s the best rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Auditor Martha Balyeat, who\u2019s retiring at the end of the year, introduced her replacement, Erika Blackmore, and request several fund transfers, along with a $3.2 million \u201cthen and now\u201d invoice for the upcoming Leeson Ave. reconstruction project. She also presented the city\u2019s proposed 2024 budget, which is expected to be approved by the end of the year. Later in the meeting, Fourth Ward Councilman Andrew Davis suggested a resolution be prepared to honor Balyeat for her years of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By a 5-2 vote, council members also approved a $30,000 contribution to Main Street Van Wert. The two \u201cno\u201d votes were cast by First Ward Councilman Jeff Agler and Second Ward Councilman David Stinnett. The vote came after a presentation by Main Street Van Wert Executive Director Mitch Price, who outlined the year\u2019s offerings and upcoming events in 2024, including the annual Chocolate Walk, which is going back to February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council members met in executive session to discuss a salary ordinance and a Finance Committee meeting was scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, November 20, to discuss the 2024 budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next regular meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 27, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor If approved by Van Wert City Council, water rates will increase in 2024. During Monday night\u2019s regular council meeting, Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming said the city has raised rates just once over the last 10-12 years, with that being a $1 increase to pay for the citywide water meter upgrade. He said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 16:58:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172617"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172678,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172617\/revisions\/172678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}