06-27-05 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETINGJUNE 27, 2005 COUNCIL DISTRICT UPDATES – AT LARGE COUNCILMEMBER AL “BUDDY” KIRSITS Councilmember Kirsits welcomed everyone to tonight’s Common Council Meeting. He stated that as the chairperson of the utilities committee, he reports that the City is in good operating shape due to the result of good management and persistent upgrades. The $20 million dollar upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant 2 years ago has allowed for increased capacity and better efficiency for the environmental stewardship of the river. This has allowed the city to extend sewer lines and accept newly annexed areas to the city. Work has continued to alleviate the problems of sewer odor from the system in general and the New Energy Plant specifically. The problems of large area basement flooding have been addressed and are decreasing. But one problem is persistent and will not go away. The separation of storm sewers and sanitary sewers, commonly known as the CSO issue. While many face the thought that the federal government would be easing it’s position regarding the Clean Water Act, that is not the case. Municipalities are going to have to separate out their CSO’s and the cities, including South Bend will bear the brunt of the cost. The prediction several years ago that it would cost an user more for sewage use than water usage is the reality. The city’s advisory committee on sewer rates was recently told that the rates may have to rise 79% over four years in order to raise $11 million to meet the new minimum upgrades required by the Feds. The overall cost could exceed $120 million. The council will be involved in this delicate issue to ensure that all the users will equitably share necessary increases. We have to remember it is not cheap to flush problems away. The water works is in good shape and should be able to continue operating from a financially sound position. While a recent 22% increase in rates is always distasteful, the South Bend rates continue to be below the middle of the pack when comparing us to the rest of the municipalities in the state. The leak insurance fund is solvent and is capable of covering the costs of the many residential leaks we face in the older parts of the city. While this often varies in the number of leaks we service, having the fund solvent by spreading it out to our residential users protect the homeowner from costly repairs. More importantly the South Bend Water Works has been able to easily meet the demands of it’s consumers during these hot summer days. On Sunday, the water works pumped to its highest level this year by proving 37 million gallons of water. However, that was nowhere near its capacity. During the drought of ’89 we pumped more than 60 million gallons in one day. The system has the capability to meet the demands and the future expansion needs of the city. While sometimes a little hard in appearance, our South Bend water continues to be a tasty and plentiful commodity. For those who want to stick around until the end of the meeting tonight, Councilmember Kirsits invited everyone to come to the Council office and enjoy a cold one with Rev. Rouse and himself. For clarification, that would be a cold bottle of bottled South Bend City Water. Very tasty and free. All kidding aside, the city sewer and water department is in excellent shape because problems were anticipated and dealt with ahead of time. Many times, we hear of nearby communities out of compliance with regulations or issuing orders to boil water. We do not have that problem here because we have accepted the financial burden of maintaining top-notch facilities. For that, the environment should be happy. RESOLVE INTO THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE At 7:17 p.m., Councilmember White made a motion to resolve into the Committee of the Whole. Councilmember Dieter seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. Councilmember Kelly, Chairperson, Committee of the Whole, presiding. Councilmember Kelly explained the procedures to be followed for tonights meeting in ã accordance with Article 1, Section 2-11 of the South Bend Municipal Code and that pamphlets were available to the pubic, which outline the Council rules and procedures, and are located on the railing in the Council Chambers. 3