By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com
NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – North Manchester residents and businesses will soon see a utility rate increase designed to ensure the sustainability of the town’s water and wastewater systems.
With no public comment before the agenda items, the North Manchester Town Council unanimously passed two new ordinances governing the town’s utility rates for the third and final time at the council’s Aug. 2 meeting.
The ordinances, General Ordinance No. 4, 2017 (Water) and General Ordinance No. 5 (Wastewater), were first read at the council’s June meeting, and public hearings on both ordinances were held at its July meeting.
Town Manager Adam Penrod previously explained that the increases are necessary not only to bring the two town departments back into the black financially, but also to fund much needed or state-mandated repairs and improvements.
Both ordinances were read for the third and final time at Wednesday’s meeting, and passed unanimously with no further discussion or comment from the council.
Water rates will have a 33 percent increase, up to a minimum of $18.33 per month from the previous minimum rate of $13.74. This is the first water rate increase in the last nine years, and only the second in the last 15 years.
Minimum wastewater rates will only rise nine percent, up to $21.16 per month from the previous minimum of $19.41.
The increases go into effect for the town’s next billing period, and will climb higher in the next few years. The water rate will jump to $21.90 in January 2019, and again to $24.48 in January 2020. Wastewater rates will also increase, going up to $22.91 in January 2019 and to $24.65 in January 2020.
Other news from the council meeting included adopting Resolution No. 2, 2017 to purchase a new vacuum truck for the Wastewater Department and a $10,000 increase in Tree Commission funding.
The council unanimously approved the resolution to purchase a $403,342 sewer vacuum truck to replace an aging 16-year-old truck, which Penrod said needs expensive maintenance to continue functioning as is needed.
“Sixteen years ago, that truck cost $260-280,000, so it’s come up just as everything else has,” Penrod said.
“I believe they’re saying 180-day delivery on it, once it’s been approved, and then we plan on selling our current [truck]… we’ve had some inquiries about it already.”
He said that they expect to get between $80,000-100,000 for the old vehicle.
As part of the resolution, the council agreed to a five-year lease through Crossroads Bank, at the end of which the town will own the truck.
The Tree Advisory Commission, which is tasked with maintaining trees on the town’s tree lawns, requested an additional $10,000 to their budget in order to continue operating through the rest of 2017. The commission had only $2,000 left of its $40,000 2017 budget after several trees were damaged in storms this summer. In particular, the town’s silver maple trees are costly to maintain or remove, and have contributed to the budget drain.
The council voted unanimously to add $10,000 to the commission’s budget.
For more on the council’s meeting, see the Aug. 9 issue of the News-Journal.