SIDNEY — An update on the sewer rates for Port Jefferson residents was discussed during Monday evening’s Sidney City Council meeting. Village residents will see a slight increase in what they will be paying in 2016 compared to 2015.
Larry Broughton, city of Sidney utilities director, said the city has been providing sewer services for the village residents since 1998 when the city manager was authorized to enter into an agreement. The necessity for the agreement arose when the Ohio EPA told the village to stop the sewage that was going into the Great Miami River from on-lot septic systems.
In 2000, the city entered into a Wastewater Management Agreement and Wastewater Treatment Agreement with the village of Port Jefferson. These agreements called for the village to construct a new collection system to for sewer service for all customers within the village’s service area. The sewage would then be pumped to the city of Sidney’s sewer pump station on state Route 47 and then into the city’s wastewater treatment plant for treatment.
The agreement also called for the city to operate and maintain the village’s sewer system, pump station and perform the sewer billings on behalf of the village. The sewer rates charged to Port Jefferson are based on the city’s cost to operate and maintain the sewer system and perform the sewer billing plus a 50 percent outside corporation rate surcharge.
The city is required to adjust the annual charges by March 1 of each year.
The wastewater treatment rates, said Broughton, will be $2.70 per 100 cubic feet of sewage, which is a 3.2 percent increase from 2015’s rate of $2.62 per 100 cubic feet(Ccf) of sewage. He said the village’s sewage flows increased slightly in 2015 due to the wet weather. Operational costs rose slightly due to increased chemical costs.
The management rates, he said will be $1.38/Ccf for 2016, which is a 3.4 percent increase from 2015’s rate of $1.33/Ccf.
The reason for the increase, said Broughton, is because there was a higher flow of volume due to the wet weather and minimal increases in staff/maintenance costs.
Village residents, he said, will be paying $4.08/Ccf in 2016, which is an increase of 3.2 percent from $3.95 charged in 2015.
Broughton said in 2015, the city received $28,970 in revenue from the Port Jefferson sewer charges. This was an average of $17.15 per customer per month. Additional charges are set by Port Jefferson for debt repayment and reserve.
Port Jefferson Mayor Steve Butterfield was at the meeting. He said the village receives a list of people who are delinquent in their sewage payments. A list of who owes money, he said, is posted at the village’s post office.
When the total reaches a certain amount, the village pays the bill and then begins the process to collect the money from the resident.
A problem arises, he said, when the resident goes to the city and pays the bill which the village has already paid. The city credits the account against future bills. The resident, said Butterfield, still owes the village for what the village paid to the city.
Council went into executive session to discuss four items: discipline of a public employee; preparing for negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees; to consider the purchase of property for public purposes; and pending or imminent court action.
Sidney Mayor Mike Barhorst said no action was taken on any of the items.
