Andy McDonald
Special to the Register
BEREA
Fri, May 16 2008
—
The Berea City Council took the first step toward increasing municipal utility rates Tuesday night, hearing the first readings of ordinances implementing rate hikes for water, sewer and electric service.
The increase comes following an April 15 meeting in which city council members met with consultant Paul Garcia of The Prime Group LLC. At that meeting, Garcia recommended an increase in the city’s sewer and electric rates in order to keep with increasing residential demand, and to pay for needed for improvements in the city’s utilities infrastructure.
Under the provisions of Ordinance 07-08, Berea Municipal Utilities would raise its wholesale water rates and tariffs to $.0162490 for the Garrard County Water Association and $0.0021720 to the Madison Southern Water District. Both entities purchase water from Berea Municipal Utilities.
The ordinance will come up for a second reading on May 19, but the rate increase will be suspended until it can be approved by the Kentucky Service Commission, according to the ordinance.
The council also heard the first reading of an ordinance increasing water rates on residential, commercial and industrial water consumers within Berea city limits.
Under Ordinance 08-08, residential customers would be charged a minimum of $10 for the first 200 cubic feet of water, and $3.17 thereafter per hundred cubic feet. Commercial users would be charged $10.45 for the first 200 cubic feet of water, while the next 1,800 cubic feet would cost $3.86 per hundred. The same scale would apply to industrial users.
City officials said the rate increase differs from the current rate scale, in which the more water consumers use, the less they pay for it. The proposed adjustment would increase prices slightly while encouraging conservation, officials said.
Rates for water service have not increased in Berea for 18 years and rates for sewer service have not increased in 23 years, city officials said. Rates for electricity, meanwhile, were adjusted shortly before the city of Berea purchased Berea College Utilities.
Because residential customers are not currently paying rates that would provide funding for needed for infrastructure improvements of the city’s electric, water and sewer facilities, the city is having to raise rates or find another revenue source, city officials said.
Approximately $285,000 is needed to fund improvements for the city’s water treatment and raw water projects; $435,000 will be needed to upgrade the city’s electric facilities, including system upgrades, meter conversion, and new street light installments in residential developments; and $175,000 in upgrades are required for the city sewers, according to city officials.
Customers could receive an overall increase of utility rates between 4 and 6 percent, according to City Administrator Randy Stone.
The city will stage one or more public meetings to give citizens the opportunity to comment on the proposed rate hikes, according to Mayor Steve Connelly.
In other council business:
• The council heard the first reading of an ordinance to increase electric utility rates. The minimum charge for residential electric service would be a minimum of $10 a month, with an energy charge of $0.0515 for each kilowatt hour. Commercial businesses would be charged a minimum of $13 monthly, with $0.0589 for each kilowatt hour. The rate would then vary for large commercial, industrial and private outdoor lighting service.
• The council heard an ordinance to increase residential, commercial and industrial sewer rates.
• The council adopted a resolution entering into a municipal road aid contract between the city and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
• First reading was heard of an ordinance annexing property owned by Troy and Amanda VanWinkle located at 2237 Menelaus Road, assigning it the zoning classification of B-2 major commercial.
• The council heard comments from Cheyenne Olson and Richard Olson of Sustainable Berea, who thanked the Berea City Council for their support of the Berea Rain Barrel Festival and provided council members with low-flow shower heads. Olson recommended an initiative by the city to help encourage consumers to conserve water.
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