Milford OKs Proposed Water And Wastewater Rate Increases
December 15, 2021 at 1:16 a.m.
By Denise Fedorow-
Higgins said, “At a minimum – just to cover operations” they were suggesting an increase of $2.73 a month on water for average users (4,000 gallons) and an increase of $6.06 for average users for wastewater.
He gave the council a couple of options for capital improvements, including to plan for an additional $500,000 for water needs, it would bring the total increase for the average user to $7.50 a month and for an additional $250,000 for wastewater improvements the total increase for the average user would be $8.10 a month.
“That would cover operational costs and provide financing for capital projects,” Higgins said.
When the study first came back in October, the recommendation was for $1 million to be set aside for needed capital projects, an amount some of the council was not comfortable with.
Higgins shared the current rate for the average user of 4,000 gallons is $24.85 for water and $46.50 for sewer – if this proposed increase goes through that average user would pay $32.35 for water and $54.60 for sewer.
Clerk Treasurer Tricia Gall said the last time the water rates were raised was in 2015 and the sewer rates were raised in 2019.
Councilman Kenneth Long said, “This is a reasonable way of doing it – we know we can’t just do operational anymore. In my opinion, this is a reasonable increase.”
The Council decided to wait to hold the public hearing in February so they’d have all month to get the notices out.
Gall mentioned one of the reasons Milford didn’t receive a grant it had applied for was because their rates were so low.
Higgins confirmed her statement. “The state is looking for an average customer rate of $65-$70 a month. If you’re not at that level, they’re saying other communities could use it more.”
Higgins also told the Council they can always decrease the rate after the public hearings but they can’t increase them. “No one objects if the rates go down,” he said.
He also said if the public hearing is held in February, the soonest the increase would go into effect would be April.
Town attorney Jay Rigdon shared the town was petitioned by a group of land holders from the final phase of the North Park subdivision on the edge of town to be annexed. He said the town has the fiscal plan to consider adopting, and once they do, they need to hold three outreach meetings, the first of which to be held no sooner than 30 days after Monday’s meeting.
He said there are no spacing requirements for the three dates – they can be held consecutively or spread out.
The Council approved the fiscal plan and set the outreach dates for Jan. 24, Jan. 25 and Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. The public hearing will be held at the February council meeting.
The Council passed several resolutions concerning the Americans with Disability Act, including a resolution spelling out the ADA design guidelines, a resolution appointing Street, Water and Parks Superintendent Steven Marquart as the ADA coordinator for the town and another resolution adopting the ADA transition plan.
Marquart explained part of the transition plan includes correcting slope of sidewalks and detection pads. The town has to have such a plan in place to qualify for Community Crossings grant funding.
The Council passed all the resolutions, including a Title VI resolution for the non-discriminatory plans.
Prior to approving the 2022 salary ordinance, the Council approved changes to the police pay matrix. Gall explained new hires starting annual pay will increase by $2,000 a year, depending on experience. For example, a new hire without academy experience will receive $43,000, with academy experience will receive $45,000 and a new hire who has been through the academy and has job experience will start at $47,000.
The salary ordinance calls for a 4% increase for all full-time employees, except those in the police department. “The police have a whole restructuring based on responsibilities,” Gall said.
After the meeting, Gall said part-time employees have received different increases throughout the year. Council members will not be receiving an increase.
The Council heard from Fire Chief Virgil Sharp that the township fire truck will be ready the first of January, and they wanted to know if the town had plans for the rescue truck. There was discussion about how to go about providing a truck for the east side of the tracks in case a stalled train should make it harder to get to a fire. No decision was made.
He announced that officers were elected and he would remain as chief, first assistant is Steve Farber, second assistant is Brian Harner, secretary is Dan Duncan, treasurer is Kevin Walker and training officers are Sam Baumgartner and Rich Miotto for 2022.
He also informed the Council that the county is providing the radios and handhelds, but not the pagers. The Council agreed to help with that cost, along with other entities.
Police Chief Derek Kreider announced the county also provided new mobile radios for the police department through American Recovery Plan Act funds.
The Council approved the purchase of a new patrol vehicle for the police department. Kreider explained they have need of a pickup truck so he was asking to purchase a 2022 Dodge Ram 1500. He said some of their pursuits lately have gone through fields. He was also asking to purchase it from Button Dodge in Kokomo, as that is where they purchased their last vehicle from. He said the lowest bidder, John Jones Chrysler, was in southern Indiana near Kentucky so the distance to send officers to get the vehicle carried added expense.
He asked for the upfitting to be done by Cops Gear in Columbia City instead of the lowest bidder, Move Over, because they had to have Cops Gear correct several issues they had with Move Over last time.
The Council approved the purchase of the vehicle from Button Dodge for $37,979 and the upfitting from Cops Gear for $11,852.34.
Marquart reported that leaf pick up has ended so leaves now need to be bagged.
He received approval to get new truck rust protected and other protective items from Ziebart in Warsaw for $2,565.
He also received approval to get a radiator repaired and new front tires for a water department truck from Jake’s Repair Service at a cost of $1,800.
In other business:
• Heard the town’s offices will be closed Dec. 23 and 24 and Dec. 31 and Jan. 3 for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
• Set a meeting to close out year-end business for Dec. 29 at 1 p.m. in town hall.
• The Santa Light Parade is Saturday with lineup at 5:30 p.m. with the parade starting at 6 p.m. Milford police, fire, EMS, water and street departments will go through the north and south streets with lights on the entire time. The Milford police will lead the parade with Santa in a Humvee.
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Higgins said, “At a minimum – just to cover operations” they were suggesting an increase of $2.73 a month on water for average users (4,000 gallons) and an increase of $6.06 for average users for wastewater.
He gave the council a couple of options for capital improvements, including to plan for an additional $500,000 for water needs, it would bring the total increase for the average user to $7.50 a month and for an additional $250,000 for wastewater improvements the total increase for the average user would be $8.10 a month.
“That would cover operational costs and provide financing for capital projects,” Higgins said.
When the study first came back in October, the recommendation was for $1 million to be set aside for needed capital projects, an amount some of the council was not comfortable with.
Higgins shared the current rate for the average user of 4,000 gallons is $24.85 for water and $46.50 for sewer – if this proposed increase goes through that average user would pay $32.35 for water and $54.60 for sewer.
Clerk Treasurer Tricia Gall said the last time the water rates were raised was in 2015 and the sewer rates were raised in 2019.
Councilman Kenneth Long said, “This is a reasonable way of doing it – we know we can’t just do operational anymore. In my opinion, this is a reasonable increase.”
The Council decided to wait to hold the public hearing in February so they’d have all month to get the notices out.
Gall mentioned one of the reasons Milford didn’t receive a grant it had applied for was because their rates were so low.
Higgins confirmed her statement. “The state is looking for an average customer rate of $65-$70 a month. If you’re not at that level, they’re saying other communities could use it more.”
Higgins also told the Council they can always decrease the rate after the public hearings but they can’t increase them. “No one objects if the rates go down,” he said.
He also said if the public hearing is held in February, the soonest the increase would go into effect would be April.
Town attorney Jay Rigdon shared the town was petitioned by a group of land holders from the final phase of the North Park subdivision on the edge of town to be annexed. He said the town has the fiscal plan to consider adopting, and once they do, they need to hold three outreach meetings, the first of which to be held no sooner than 30 days after Monday’s meeting.
He said there are no spacing requirements for the three dates – they can be held consecutively or spread out.
The Council approved the fiscal plan and set the outreach dates for Jan. 24, Jan. 25 and Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. The public hearing will be held at the February council meeting.
The Council passed several resolutions concerning the Americans with Disability Act, including a resolution spelling out the ADA design guidelines, a resolution appointing Street, Water and Parks Superintendent Steven Marquart as the ADA coordinator for the town and another resolution adopting the ADA transition plan.
Marquart explained part of the transition plan includes correcting slope of sidewalks and detection pads. The town has to have such a plan in place to qualify for Community Crossings grant funding.
The Council passed all the resolutions, including a Title VI resolution for the non-discriminatory plans.
Prior to approving the 2022 salary ordinance, the Council approved changes to the police pay matrix. Gall explained new hires starting annual pay will increase by $2,000 a year, depending on experience. For example, a new hire without academy experience will receive $43,000, with academy experience will receive $45,000 and a new hire who has been through the academy and has job experience will start at $47,000.
The salary ordinance calls for a 4% increase for all full-time employees, except those in the police department. “The police have a whole restructuring based on responsibilities,” Gall said.
After the meeting, Gall said part-time employees have received different increases throughout the year. Council members will not be receiving an increase.
The Council heard from Fire Chief Virgil Sharp that the township fire truck will be ready the first of January, and they wanted to know if the town had plans for the rescue truck. There was discussion about how to go about providing a truck for the east side of the tracks in case a stalled train should make it harder to get to a fire. No decision was made.
He announced that officers were elected and he would remain as chief, first assistant is Steve Farber, second assistant is Brian Harner, secretary is Dan Duncan, treasurer is Kevin Walker and training officers are Sam Baumgartner and Rich Miotto for 2022.
He also informed the Council that the county is providing the radios and handhelds, but not the pagers. The Council agreed to help with that cost, along with other entities.
Police Chief Derek Kreider announced the county also provided new mobile radios for the police department through American Recovery Plan Act funds.
The Council approved the purchase of a new patrol vehicle for the police department. Kreider explained they have need of a pickup truck so he was asking to purchase a 2022 Dodge Ram 1500. He said some of their pursuits lately have gone through fields. He was also asking to purchase it from Button Dodge in Kokomo, as that is where they purchased their last vehicle from. He said the lowest bidder, John Jones Chrysler, was in southern Indiana near Kentucky so the distance to send officers to get the vehicle carried added expense.
He asked for the upfitting to be done by Cops Gear in Columbia City instead of the lowest bidder, Move Over, because they had to have Cops Gear correct several issues they had with Move Over last time.
The Council approved the purchase of the vehicle from Button Dodge for $37,979 and the upfitting from Cops Gear for $11,852.34.
Marquart reported that leaf pick up has ended so leaves now need to be bagged.
He received approval to get new truck rust protected and other protective items from Ziebart in Warsaw for $2,565.
He also received approval to get a radiator repaired and new front tires for a water department truck from Jake’s Repair Service at a cost of $1,800.
In other business:
• Heard the town’s offices will be closed Dec. 23 and 24 and Dec. 31 and Jan. 3 for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
• Set a meeting to close out year-end business for Dec. 29 at 1 p.m. in town hall.
• The Santa Light Parade is Saturday with lineup at 5:30 p.m. with the parade starting at 6 p.m. Milford police, fire, EMS, water and street departments will go through the north and south streets with lights on the entire time. The Milford police will lead the parade with Santa in a Humvee.
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