Sewer fee increase proposed
By Author
City
Published Dec. 2, 2009

In an effort to maintain the city’s aging sewer infrastructure and pay for growing environmental mandates, the Patton administration is seeking to increase sewer fees by 44 percent over the next three years.

Mayor Eileen Patton made the proposal at a City Council committee meeting Nov. 23. Council must approve any increase in residents’ sewer fees.

In making the proposal, Patton noted that residents have not seen in increase in sewer fees since 1994.

Fairview Park residents pay sewer fees through their quarterly water bill. The current fee, based on water usage, is $27 per Mcf, or thousand cubic feet, which is 7,480 gallons. The city is proposing an increase of $6 per Mcf in 2010, with a further increase of $3 in 2011 and another $3 in 2012.

The mayor said the average home in Fairview now pays about $80 each quarter in sewer fees.

In the late 1990s, the City Council chamber was often filled to capacity during council meetings with residents angry that their basements were repeatedly flooding, Patton recalled.

Patton said the city has aggressively tackled the sewer issue since she took office in 2000.

“The improvements we made in the community have been incredible,” the mayor said.

Service Director Jim Kennedy said that the city has spent $4.8 million on sewer projects since January 2000.

Those numerous sewer projects have achieved the goal of keeping residents’ basements dry, Kennedy said.

“We don’t get any flooding complaints anymore,” Kennedy told council.

But the mayor said that major sewer projects launched by her administration have used up much of the reserves that had built up in the city’s sewer fund. Remaining reserves must be maintained for emergencies, she said. More money is needed to continue the work, she said.

“We have an antiquated sewer system,” Patton said, “so we will never be done.”

Patton said the increase in fees is necessary so the city can continue to be proactive in maintaining the sewer infrastructure.

“We don’t want to put a burden on our residents,” she said.

In 2008, the city’s sewer fund took in $1.7 million in fees, Patton said. Of that amount, $1 million went to fund the operating costs of the two wastewater treatment plants — in Rocky River and North Olmsted — where Fairview’s wastewater and stormwater flow to. About $350,000 paid the salaries and benefits of the city’s five certified sewer workers. Another $150,000 went to pay the debt service on several major sewer repair projects the city tackled in recent years. Two-hundred thousand dollars is earmarked for new projects and emergencies, city officials said.

A sewer project now underway at the western end of Lorain Road across from Bonnie’s Restaurant is costing $17,900, Kennedy said.

Because the entire system cannot be replaced, Kennedy said the city has taken the approach of fixing sections deemed to be “trouble spots.” The placement of restrictors — basically buckets with half the bottom cut out — down below street sewer grates has helped the stormwater sewers function better during heavy rainstorms by slowing down the flow of water, Kennedy said. Previously during heavy downpours, the stormwater sewers became overwhelmed and often leaked into the sanitary sewer systems, causing them to back up into residents’ basements.

Patton and Kennedy also said the fee increases are necessary due to expected new mandates from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. These new standards on water quality will likely result in increased operating and/or capital expenses at the treatment plants associated with Fairview Park’s sewer system, they said.

Council voted to keep the issue in committee.

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