Elkins City Council approved the first reading of two ordinances Tuesday that will increase water and sewer rates. The increases will not go into effect until a second reading is passed and they are approved by the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
The first ordinance considered by council is a two-step water rate increase. Councilman Tom Hensil, 2nd Ward, said the first step is a going level increase to help the water fund make ends meet, while the second will be used to help pay off loans for the future construction of a new water treatment plant and distribution system upgrades.
"The first step is before construction and the second is after construction," Elkins Mayor Duke Talbott said.
Talbott explained that the increase was written to place less of a burden on those who use the lowest amount of water and those on a fixed income. According to the ordinance, the first rate increase would go into effect 45 days after the second reading is passed, but Talbott said there will be a protest to the rates.
"The public service districts will protest and the WVPSC will set the rates," he said. "They have 270 days to set the rates once it is protested."
Currently, customers pay $8.34 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons of water; $4.45 per 1,000 gallons for the next 3,000 gallons, $3.84 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons of water and $2.56 per 1,000 gallons for any usage exceeding 10,000 gallons.
Under the first step of the increase, customers will pay $9.50 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons of water; $6 per 1,000 gallons for the next 3,000 gallons, $3.52 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons of water and $3.06 per 1,000 gallons for any usage exceeding 10,000 gallons.
Hensil said the first increase would have been needed even if the city wasn't working to construct the plant. The second step of the increase will not go into effect until the plant is finished. It is projected that construction will begin sometime in 2013.
Under the second increase, after construction is complete, rates would be: $12.25 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000 gallons of water; $9.90 per 1,000 gallons for the next 3,000 gallons, $9 per 1,000 gallons for the next 5,000 gallons of water and $5.57 per 1,000 gallons for any usage exceeding 10,000 gallons.
The sewer rate increase is also a two-step process with the first phase going into place 45 days after passage of the second reading, unless the rate is protested.
Under the current sewer rates, for the fist 1,500 gallons used per month, customers are charged $7.07 per 1,000 gallons; for the next 248,500 gallons used, the charge is $7.07 per 1,000 gallons; and any usage exceeding 250,000 gallons, the charge is $2.81 per 1,000 gallons.
Under the first step of the increase, for the fist 1,500 gallons used per month, customers are charged $9.43 per 1,000 gallons; for the next 248,500 gallons used, the charge is $8.10 per 1,000 gallons; and any usage exceeding 250,000 gallons, the charge is $6 per 1,000 gallons.
Talbott said the rates were approved by the Elkins Sanitary Board and will be used to help pay bond issues. The second increase is the result of the consent decree the city had to sign with the Department of Environmental Protection.
The consent decree was accepted by council in June 2011 and was the result of the city not being in compliance with the Clean Water Act because of sewer overflows going into the river. The money raised by the increase in rates will help the city meet objectives in the decree including storm water separation.
According to the consent decree, the first phase will include: College Street sewer separation, Barron Avenue Rehabilitation, Kerens Avenue sewer separation and Wilson Street sewer separation.
The design phase must be complete by Feb. 28, 2013, construction must be competed by Oct. 31, 2015, and post construction monitoring must be submitted by Jan. 31, 2017.
Phase two will include: Lavalette Avenue and Elm Street sewer separation and the purchase of a new jetter/vector truck. Phase two will have to be designed by April 30, 2019; construction must be completed by Dec. 31, 2021; and post construction monitoring must be submitted by March 31, 2023.
Under the second step of the increase, which will go into effect on March 15, 2013, for the first1,500 gallons used per month, customers will be charged $10 per 1,000 gallons; for the next 248,500 gallons used, the charge will be $10 per 1,000 gallons; and any usage exceeding 250,000 gallons, the charge will be $6 per 1,000 gallons.
Both the sewer rates and water rates will have to pass a second reading by city council and be sent to the WVPSC for approval. City council will meet next at 7 p.m. on June 21 in council chambers at city hall.
