Jasper Council: Wastewater rates to go up

The Jasper Common Council met Wednesday night and approved an ordinance (2014-30) to raise wastewater rates in the city.

The original recommendation came from the Utility Service Board on December 15th. Since the last rate study took place about two years ago, it was time to re-visit the rates again.

During the December 15 meeting, the utility services board cited the recent Environmental Protection Agency and Indiana Department of Environmental Management mandated installation of the $1.2 million ultraviolet filtration system at the waste water plant as a large factor in the rate increase.

Former utility services board chair Wayne Schuetter said the city’s waste water rates are among the lowest in the area. Those rates were kept low while the economy recovered from the slow down but the mandated improvements and future needs for the utility mandated the increase.

The increase will raise residential bills by about $5.00 per month.

The Common Council passed the ordinance authorizing the rate hike. It will be appear on customers’ bills in April.

The Council also took the following actions.

–Passed ordinance 2015-1 and resolution 2015-1, which establishes a restricted donation control fund to allow the dog park to accept the grant from the Community Foundation for the installation of the electronic entry equipment into the park on 16th Street.

–Passed ordinance 2015-2 that revises the water utility ordinance by clarifying and clearing up the language to bring the ordinance into compliance with actual daily practices.

–Accepted conflict of interest statements from Tom Schmidt and Jerry Schitter.

Finally, the council voted to re-elect Tom Schmidt as President Pro Tempore for the calendar year 2015.