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Niles
water rate hike request goes before public
South Bend Tribune
- 2/21
Customers
of the Niles Utilities Department will have an opportunity next
week to comment on a hefty increase in water rates that will help
fund a major upgrade in the water system's infrastructure.
A
public hearing has been set for 7 p.m. Monday in the Niles City
Council chambers, 16 S. Third St.
Niles
City Administrator Terry Eull said Thursday the city is moving
forward on a more than $5 million bond issue for water system
improvements.
The
council appears poised to approve a bond program covering the
cost of an iron-filtration plant serving the Airport Road and
Parker Street wells and a pair of towers that would significantly
boost water pressure on the east side of Niles and in the Bertrand
Crossing Industrial Park.
But
to pay for the improvements, water rates for city customers will
need to be raised 55 percent over the next 10 years. The average
residential customer in the city will see his water bill increase
from the current $12.67 a month to about $19, said Eull and Niles
Utilities Department Manager James Lehmkuhl.
Customers
in Bertrand, Howard and Niles townships pay more for city water
but their new rates will be reduced under a new multiplier. Instead
of paying nearly double the city rate, they'll pay 1.7 times the
city rate, Lehmkuhl said.
He
said the water rate hikes would be even higher without a $900,000
grant that will be used to build the water tower at Bertrand Crossing.
The city needs to pledge $90,000 to obtain the grant, he said.
Not
only are water rates changing -- the first phase of the increase,
a 12 percent boost, was approved earlier this month by the council
-- but so is the basic rate structure. Under the new system, a
fixed charge will be applied, covering the water division's basic
services, and a second charge will be assessed based on water
usage.
Eull
said the unknown factor is the power plant planned by Indeck Energy
Services of Buffalo Grove, Ill. Should the power plant indeed
be built, Eull said water rates could either be reduced or the
revenues could be used to offset the cost of capital improvements.
But
even if the plant isn't built, he said enough funds should be
available to eventually replaced antiquated water mains. Some
have been in the ground since before World War II.
"There
is some cash flow ... to do it as we can,'' Eull said.
Currently,
water pressure on the east end of Niles and in Bertrand Crossing
is only half what it should be, he said. Also, Lehmkuhl pointed
out the iron content of water delivered to customers mainly on
the east side of town is so high that suspending it with phosphate
is only marginally successful.
Just
removing the iron from the city's two biggest water-producing
wells will cost $3 million, he said.
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