Sewer ordinance revamped

A new ordinance has several residents questioning sewer fee increases.

Ordinance 828, which would increase the sewage fees in Saratoga in order to pay for the Saratoga Wastewater Outfall was amended to charge residents a monthly fee of $22.73 a month. However, the ordinance now states every residential unit — including mobile homes and apartment units — must pay the same rate.

On July 1, 2015, rates for sewer can increase as much as $7.20. The annual 3 percent increase every calendar year begins immediately upon passage of the ordinance. The town council will likely amend the increase after bids for the project are gathered.

The changes to the ordinance was proposed after the town council discovered apartment and mobile home units would be paying considerably less for sewage rates.

“I live up in the trailer park, and I am not going to be paying the $30 monthly fee,” Saratoga Mayor John Zeiger said at the Sept. 16 council meeting. “If the public is paying that $30 dollar monthly fee, then as a resident up in the trailer park, I should also have to be paying that … so that wordage needs to be changed.”

The Saratoga/Carbon County Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board held a special meeting on Oct. 1 to listen to concerns of the public and to amend the ordinance. While no formal decision was made, the water and sewer board recommended to the council that apartment and mobile homes be included in the sewer fees, and the cost should be adjusted as such.

At the water and sewer board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 8, town engineer Chuck Bartlett presented the new sum of $22.73 to the water and sewer board. Bartlett explained the sum was established after analyzing the additionally units that would be billed, and the now (delay) in the fee to wait until July 1, 2015; the date when the loan is scheduled to be given to the town.

Water and sewer board member Ed Glode suggested there be an additional amendment to ordinance 828 which includes the $7.20 increase to cease once the loan has been repaid. The addition to the ordinance will be reviewed by council at the Oct. 21 council meeting.

Critics

Despite the year-long planning of the transmission outfall project, there are many who feel there is still a more efficient way to deal with the federal government’s regulations on water dilution.

Scott Kerbs, a Platte Valley resident, told the water and sewer board the entire plan of a transmission line was unnecessary. Kerbs suggested using a shallow well near the river to dilute the ammonia in the town’s wastewater lagoon. Bartlett said the board had considered a plan similar to Kerbs’ idea, but the salt levels in those wells would have been too high to have been effective.

The grant for the outfall transmission project needs to be submitted as soon as possible, Bartlett said at the Oct.1 town council meeting. If the town does not pass ordinance 828 within the allotted time, the town could lose the grant altogether — meaning the town of Saratoga would not have the money to build the wastewater outfall project. If the town does not build the outfall project, they would not be in compliance with DEQ standards, and would be subject to fines.

“It’s clear to me that we are in kind of a time crunch,” councilman Steve Wilcoxson said.

The next Saratoga Town Council meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on Oct. 21 at Saratoga Town Hall. The next water and sewer board meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on Nov. 5 at Saratoga Town Hall.