Kentucky County Water Rate Increase Comes Under Attack

Ripples from the Princeton Water and Wastewater Commission’s proposed rate hike continue to flow through the channels of city government and out into the community.

A standing room only crowd filled the water commission’s Market Street conference room Thursday to speak out against the increase (which, as proposed, would raise the average customer’s bill by about 40%), but the meeting was adjourned by Chairman Jim Bob Kevil after a little more than 30 minutes and first reading of the rate regulation.

Commission Superintendent Virginia Routen went through the details of the increase and presented the board’s justification for it.

At the end of April, she said, the commission had recorded a net loss of $110,000 for the fiscal year to date.

A proposed budget drafted with the increased rates included would provide the commission with a net income of $825,527 next year, she said.

When money set aside for depreciation and other expenses put back in the budget, though, the commission would end up with a modified net income of $999,654, she said.

Most of that income is being projected for use in capital outlay projects.

The construction of a new water storage tank in the industrial park will allow for the removal of a deteriorating tank on U.S. 62 West between Bremner and Special Metals.

The tank’s metal is deteriorating, and it would cost more to rehabilitate than it would to remove, Routen said.

"We ought not to rehab that tank," she said. "We’re going to have to take that tank down."

Engineers have suggested a cost of about $65,000 to tear down the tank, but the costs of hauling the materials away are unknown, since the tank’s high concentration of lead paint makes it a hazard, she said.

Other projects planned include new 6-inch water lines in the Dixie Heights subdivision, to remedy water pressure concerns there, and a new wastewater lift station on Cardinal Lane, to alleviate the overloaded station there currently.

Routen said she believed the cheapest way to do that would be to install bigger pumps and build a new holding tank there.

Also, state requirements call for an upgraded computer system at the wastewater treatment plant.

Routen added that she had recommended an increase in water rates only, based on data from the Pennyrile Area Development District showing the city’s water rates were well below the average of other cities in the PADD district.

Sewer rates were about average, she said, and the city’s rate charged to wholesale customers was higher than average.

Board members, she said, authorized her to draft a budget with all three areas increased.

The increases, though, did not sit well with the residents and merchants in attendance.

Troon Drive resident D.W. Glass asked the commission board directors in attendance how they were governed.

The board’s attorney, Todd Wetzel, said the commission regulated rates pursuant to member appointments by the city council.

Others said addressing the council would prove futile.

"The city council can’t overrule y’all," said Hollis Brantley, a local merchant and former council member. "If we don’t like this, we can take it to the city council and it don’t mean a thing."

The increase, he said, will hurt him and other small business owners in the city.

Mary Ann Boyer, director of operations at Princeton’s Bremner plant, said the increase would have a negative impact not only on her company, but on the availability of future industries as well.

A 40% increase, she said, would raise Bremner’s average monthly water bill of $11,000 to almost $16,000, for a yearly increase of approximately $55,000.

That kind of variance does not send a good signal to industries looking to expand or locate in Princeton.

"The first thing a business does when they come in is look at trends at major utilities," she said.

Boyer challenged the board to enact a gradual increase rather than the major increase proposed now. She also suggested the commission consider expanding their capital projects into a two- or three-year plan.

Routen said some of the projects mentioned could be carried over to another year.

Audience members continued to protest the increase as the meeting continued.

"It’s killing us," said Rodney Heaton, owner of the Stratton Inn and the Carousel Laundromat, among other businesses.

Shortly after 4 p.m., though, Kevil called for an adjournment, citing a commitment at another meeting.

The meeting’s abrupt end drew more complaints from the crowd, many of whom lingered to speak individually with Routen and members of the board.

As Routen said at the outset of the meeting, board members took no action on the rate increase, other than hold first reading of the rate increase regulation.

Source: Princeton Times Leader