MILFORD - A public hearing was held at the start of Milford’s Council meeting on Monday, and one resident, Jay Urbin, expressed his frustration about another water rate increase.
“Why are we raising rates again? Are we going to get ahead of it and not be raising rates every four-five years?” Urbin asked. “I thought with the last rate increase we were going to get ahead of it — you guys are just treading water.”
Councilman Jim Smiley tried to tell Urbin that he checked and Milford’s water rates were one of the lowest around, but Urbin cut him off saying, “I don’t care if other towns are higher than ours.”
Council President Doug Ruch told Urbin he needed to hear from the town’s financial advisor, Jim Higgins, with LWG. Higgins told him that this rate increase included a $6.9 million project and the town is receiving $4,750,000 in grants — free money.
“Seventy percent of the project is covered in grants, which is almost unheard of,” Higgins said.
He said when they looked at the project last year with representatives from the State Revolving Fund program and what the rate impact would be, he said it was “astronomical — without the grant funds your minimum bill would have been raised to almost $100 a month.”
He said the town is only borrowing $2 million over 20 years at less than 2.5% interest rate.
“Will this be the last rate increase you’ll ever see? Absolutely not. Will it be the last big project for a while? I think so,” Higgins said. “Utility rates are not meant to be static because everything goes up.”
He said some boards have been hesitant in the past to raise rates deciding instead to kick the can down the road until it’s absolutely necessary and then end up with large rate increases.
Higgins said, “Typically the life of a normal rate increase is five-six years when not tied to a project. This rate increase is tied to a project and will pay for operating system, debt service and to pay for repairs and maintenance.”
He added, “I understand the burden but it’s not nearly what it could have been.”
He said the timing on this is actually really good because he heard from state that these grant funds are not going to be available next year. He said that as far as future rate increases, he would recommend they look at it in three-four years because everything goes up and he said smaller changes are easier to take.
Urbin still wasn’t completely mollified. “That’s what we heard last time,” he said, and asked how much money was on hand for this project. Higgins told him about $100,000 and said no municipality would be able to completely fund such a project.
Clerk-Treasurer Tricia Gall said the last time they raised rates was in 2022 and the town had been operating in the black, so if not for the need for this project they wouldn’t need to do a rate increase this soon.
The scope of the project consists of designing a new treatment facility to remove iron and manganese, looping dead-end service mains, replacing lead service lines, including potholing unknown services and installing a mixer for elevated storage tank.
No one else commented on the rate increase and the council later approved the rate increase ordinance. After the meeting, Gall said the rate increase will be in two phases with the first phase going into effect soon — probably with the April billing payable in May. An average user of 4,000 gallons will see their rate increase to $49.09 in phase I. In the second phase, that 4,000-gallon user will see their bill increase to $53.19 and that will go into effect upon completion of the project, which they expect will take 18 months.
Other Public Comment
Ron Baumgartner had a couple of things he wanted the council to consider.
The first was about the closed crossing at 4th Street and James Street, which he said was closed with large steel girders in the way. He suggested changing the flow and putting stop signs on 4th Street. He also told the council he’s part of a beautification committee and suggested at another crossing that is closed, with large steel girders and road closed sign with flashing lights, that would probably be there forever. His idea was to have the town tear up the asphalt a few feet away from the crossing and add dirt,plants and shrubs to cover the girders but the sign would still be visible. He said he could bring a drawing of his proposal to the next meeting and he would buy the plants and take care of them for this growing season and then the town could take over next year.
Councilman Ken Long said, “I don’t disagree about some type of beautification or shield.” He told Baumgartner they’d need to find out the railroad’s right-of-way because they are “sticklers about their right-of-way.” The council said they’d consider Baumgartner’s ideas and thanked him for coming.
Wastewater Department
Utility Superintendent Steven Marquart told the council they need to replace two aerator motors for the wastewater plant. He said the motors have been in service 24 years running for 24/7, but they will be in violation of Indiana Department of Environmental Management in very short time if they go out.
He said he got several quotes. The one he recommended was from American Pump Repair at $9,778 per motor installed, so the total would be $19,556, including removing the old motors and installing the new ones. He said they will also check the seals on the gear boxes and replace them on site if possible.
The other quotes were from Ovieo quoted $7,687.26 for the motors with no installation. Barrier quoted $9,374 for motors without heat but wanted an additional $3,750 to install them for a total cost of $26,248. Precision Electric had the motors for $3,495.54 but they were a lower RPM and they couldn’t install. After some discussion, the council approved going with American Pump.
In other business, the council:
• Swore in new Deputy Marshal Calvin Fancil.
• Heard former marshal Derek Kreider will be resigning in May.
• Authorized the police department to directly apply for grants.
• Approved having utility employee Robert Murphy pursue certificate for mosquito spraying and upon receiving his core license they approved a 50-cent per-hour raise.
• Approved getting another load of salt from Morton at $101.43 a ton.
• Approved advertising for a lifeguard.
• Heard that the next hydrant flushing will be April 2 and 3.
• Approved paying AIM dues of $1,832.
• Approved paying a Boyce/Keystone invoice for $7,900.
• Approved attendance and costs for Gall and the deputy clerk to attend the Indiana League of Municipal Clerk Treasurer’s conference.
• Approved Gall’s attendance at the Association of Public Treasurer’s conference in July.
• Approved having Sweetheimer trash to continue with trash pick up for the second quarter with no price increase.
• Heard requests from Barb Zimmerman representing Milford Fest but they won’t be finalized until next month’s meeting.