02-04-19 Utilities - Laserfiche WebLink

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®CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Committee Chair Teshka stated,Because of my unfortunate situation of having the line break away from my house, the plumber came out and showed us how you can line it from your house to the street. It sounds like a weird concept, but it is a really durable material. Mr. Horvath stated, It is almost like running a pipe inside the steel pipe. Committee Chair Teshka opened the floor to Committee Members. Committeemember Sharon McBride stated, I'm just happy to see this moving along because I've been getting a lot of calls to meet with you all from the Sunnymede, Wayne, and River Park neighbors as well. I told them to hold on until after March for us to get into the neighborhoods to get them up to speed. I commend you all. I've been out to the plant several times, I inspected it when I was a risk manager. You guys have always been ahead of the curve and you're doing a lot of good things and I'm excited to hopefully be a part of it moving forward. Councilmember White requested a copy of the presentation. She stated, We would also like to thank your staff and those that have worked so hard to come and look at an alternative plan. I am very hopeful that it will be received, and anything we can do as a Council, I would be more than happy to do so. I want to go back to that one (1) slide, for capital income. I want to make sure I have a clear understanding of that. We talk about affordability, so what we're saying, is that our current capital is $19,000. And then the twenty nine point six percent (29.6%), almost thirty percent(30%) income is at$20,000. So, again, I think that is something we have struggled with. I know we have all of these unfunded mandates, and they are important for our citizens and the environment,but the issue becomes how do we afford to do what is right,but also what is required? And I think these figures really support what you're striving towards, which is to make sure that we are responding to our environment and what needs to happen,but also trying to align what our citizens can actually afford. Mr. Fahey stated, That's pragmatic environmentalism. Councilmember White stated, Ok, we'll use that. That's the struggle. Mr. Horvath stated, Absolutely. Ten percent (10%) or fourteen percent (14%) of your income going to pay your sewer bill. Committee Chair Teshka stated,And I think that's where there is a lot of concern. I've heard from residents who want to follow along in this process, they've seen rates go up over the years, and that happens everywhere. But we've had a series of rate increases and so they want to say, at least, if we're paying this, what's going on with it, what kinds of improvements are we making? I think these types of updates are good because we can take these back and people can see all the good work that we are doing, and all of the improvements being made. We have an aging infrastructure and we have issues we have to address. Councilmember Broden asked, The questions and topics I sent you, since I was late, have we hit any of those? In the meantime, I know it is very difficult to have a pure city because of where we are geographically, and I think about how the next city with an alternative plan is going to have a much easier pathway. Who could be one (1) of those next cities in that would benefit from this in EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 vwvw.southbendin.gov 12