Town Council reviews water rates study

Starting off the Tuesday, August 4 Town Council meeting was the approval of a catering permit for the fair grounds during the Demo Derby.

Town citizen Hanes “Butch” Hall approached council with a request for assistance constructing a well for raw water. Assistant to the Mayor, Fred Crosby instructed Hall that all he needed was a permit which he could apply for online. Hall’s second request was for a simpler process to request information regarding town laws. Council informed Hall that all town laws were public information which is available at Town Hall, online, and at the public library. Finally, Hall asked about fencing rules which council explained privacy fences could not be built in a way that would obstruct the view for traffic.

Anthony Barnett presented the recommended chip seal project bid on behalf of the town engineer. The bid, sent from 71 Construction out of Riverton in the amount of $93,271, was approved.

Town attorney, Mike Messenger, recommended council approve the second reading of the code upgrade ordinance and make adjustments before the third reading. Council approved the second reading.

Crosby reviewed multiple vac trucks of various models, but ultimately recommended a 2015 Mack truck with an 80-barrel tank located in Salt Lake City. The truck came in under budget and Ernie Slagle (Department of Public Works) described it as a good truck that would work for the town needs. Council approved purchase of the vac truck.

Lastly, the council discussed the recent town water rates study conducted by private consultant, Carl Brown. Brown was contracted to review the town’s water rate situation which has been losing money at a regular rate for the last two years. Currently the water utility owes the town’s general fund over $1 million to compensate for shortfalls. Based on 2013 figures, Brown recommended increasing overall town utility rates by at least 36.2% initially and incrementally by 2.5% each year thereafter for an unspecified amount of time. Because this study was conducted using two-year-old data, this would mean that this increase should actually be higher due to the ever-increasing cost of maintenance and chemicals needed to treat water.

Because this sharp rate of increase would be difficult for town citizens to absorb initially, town council members agreed that an approximate 30% rate increase would be easier for citizens to handle. Brown’s study also compared Thermopolis utility rates to other local communities and stated “current rates would have to be considered cheap.”

Crosby commented that the purpose of city utility fees is not to make a profit, but rather to keep the utility operational and that the rate increase is meant to compensate for and keep the utility out of debt in future years.

This last item of business concluded that Town Clerk/Treasurer, Tracey Van Heule and Attorney, Mike Messenger would prepare a draft recommendation for the increase in water fees to be reviewed at the next town council meeting.