Utility Hikes Coming
By Holly Heller
Pilot News
BREMEN � Municipal utility customers get ready: Your monthly bill is about to increase.
Effective Oct. 1, trash and recycling pick-up will increase by $1.50 for Bremen customers.
That same day, water rates are scheduled to increase by 4 percent, pending approval of Ordinance 9-2002 at the Sept. 9 meeting of the Bremen Town Council.
If the water rate schedule is approved, customers will see another 4 percent raise in July 2003, then 3 percent raises in July 2004 and 2005.
�Rather than have a large increase in one year, this was the option we felt would best get the job done,� said Duwaine Elliott, town director of operations.
A public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9 for anyone wishing to express oposition to the increase.
The $1.50 increase for trash and recycling pick-up is due to a loss of subsidized funds from the Marshall County Solid Waste Management District. For the past two years the MCSWMD gave the town of Bremen $37,000 to help defer the cost of pick-up and fund a spring clean-up program.
This year, the funding has decreased to $4,500, and Bremen utility customers have to make up the difference.
�The supplier will maintain the current rates for another year. The cost isn�t increasing, we�re just losing the subsidies,� Tom Keller, town council member, noted.
Customers now pay $6 of the $7.50 fee. As of Oct. 1 they will pay the entire $7.50, which translates to a $1.50 increase.
At the recommendation of Elliott, the council agreed to implement the increases together, to save money.
�They have to come in and reprogram all the rates, and it would be more economical to do both at the same time,� Elliott explained.
The council also addressed the following matters at its Monday meeting:
�Ordinance 6-2002, which bans off-road vehicles, including snowmobiles and four-wheelers, from town streets, alleys and rights-of-way, was approved on third and final reading. Town Attorney David Holmes said such vehicles are permitted for agricultural use.
�The council approved Ordinance 7-2002, which limits the growth of grass and weeds to 12 inches in residential areas. In industrial and commercial zones, 18 inches is still the limit.
�The next meeting of the Bremen Town Council will begin at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9 at the Bremen Town Hall. The public is invited.
|
|
| Community Calendar |
|
No events listed.
|
|
Interactive Calendar
|
