10-24-05 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETINGOCTOBER 24, 2005 REPORTS OF CITY OFFICES DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR GARY GILOT GIVING A PRESENTATION OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW AND OTHER UTILITY PROPOSED RATE INCREASES. Mr. Jack Dillion, Director, Environmental Services, 3113 Riverside Drive, South Bend, Indiana, made the presentation for this bill. Mr. Dillion advised that South Bend’s sewer system, like many in cities throughout the U.S. is antiquated and can no longer handle the amount of sewage and rainwater that flows through it. In fact, the system was never designed to capture more than four times the peak dry weather flow. During dry weather, sewage flows safely through the sewers to our wastewater treatment plant. However, about 65 storms in a typical year are big enough to overwhelm the sewers and cause raw sewage to overflow into the St. Joseph River and sometimes back up into people’s basements. More than 100 years ago, South Bend built a sewer system to carry rainwater and melting snow away from homes, businesses and streets. This was standard practice at the time. When indoor plumbing came later, homeowners and business owners hooked their sewage lines to the storm sewers, combining stormwater and sewage in one pipe. During dry weather, the combined sewers carry sewage to the city’s treatment plant. However, when it rains or snow melts, the sewers can be overloaded with incoming stormwater. When this happens, the sewers are designed to capture the first flush and then overflow into nearby streams and rivers. Sometimes, they can even back up into basements. Raw sewage backing up into people’s homes is a serious health hazard. In addition, the St. Joseph River doesn’t meet recreational standards for E. coli bacteria about 40 percent of the time during a typical year – and 30 percent of the time during the warm-weather months when people use the river for recreation. E. coli is an indicator of human or animal waste and disease-causing organisms in the water. Some E. coli in a waterway is natural; high levels have been linked to stomach cramps, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal illnesses among swimmers and people who ingest or swallow water during recreation. The City is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to develop a long-term plan to reduce raw sewage overflows. The first phase is a 10-year, $118 million plan to solve chronic sewage backups into basements in several neighborhoods and improve sewage collection and treatment. The 10-year plan, when complete, will reduce annual raw sewage overflow volumes by 38 percent. Phase 2 of the city’s long-term plan will be developed following further study, public input and clarification of regulatory requirements for improving the river. th Mr. Gary Gilot, Director, Public Works, 13 Floor County-City Building, South Bend, Indiana, talked about the projects financing. Mr. Gilot advised that to finance projects planned in 2006-2009, the city must raise sewer rates each year. Rates will rise from their current average of $16.77 per month to $22.17 in 2006 and to $30.00 in 2009. Projected rates are based upon a monthly residential bill of 5,000 gallons. The regular sewer rate increases will be required very year or two for the next 20 years or more to finance the project required by the state and federal governments. South Bend sewer rates are competitive with other cities’ rates, even though we have moved forward faster than most other communities to reduce overflows. Mr. Gilot stated, ratepayers need to know that their money is going into worthwhile projects and not building up in a city bank account. For this reason, rates will only be raised as the revenue is needed. The City took advantage of low-interest or zero-interest loans to pay for the $87 million in projects over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, sewer rate increases are going to become a regular occurrence for the foreseeable future – not only here in South Bend, but in cities all over Indiana and the nation. RESOLVE INTO THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE At 7:25 p.m., Councilmember Kuspa made a motion to resolve into the Committee of the Whole. Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of 2