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SALEM -- The Salem water rate increase talked about for months is now official and will hit bills in January.
The Salem Utilities Commission voted Thursday to approve the increases to both the minimum water bill and water usage rate for customers both inside and outside the city, as recommended by a Rural Community Assistance Program rate study.
"This is what they're telling us we need," Commission Chairman Bob Hodgson said.
Under the recommendation, the minimum bill for city customers will increase by $9 in the first year for the first 200 cubic feet and the rate will increase by 5.5 percent for each additional 100 cubic feet.
Bottom line, Hodgson said the typical residential water bill of 650 cubic feet of usage, including the minimum, will be $29.27 in January. For customers outside the city, who face an upcharge of 50 percent on the minimum and the rate, the bill for the typical 650 cubic feet will be $43.91.
For subsequent years, the recommendation also built in increases for city residents to the base of $7 in 2023 and $5 in 2024, with rate increases of 5.5 percent each in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. For customers outside the city, there's a 50 percent upcharge which can be figured by multiplying the city rate by 1.5. Outside customers include Perry Township residents and the villages of Leetonia and Washingtonville.
RCAP personnel made the recommendation during a work session last month and commission members decided to take some time to review the information before making a decision.
All three commission members came to the same conclusion: they need to raise the current rates to meet daily operation costs, maintenance costs and required system upgrades both now and in the future.
"We really are faced with a water plant that needs to be refurbished and our rates won't support that," commission Vice Chairman Randy Malmsberry said.
The rate study took into account many factors, including typical yearly costs, fixed costs vs. variable costs, improvements needed, maintenance costs, projected future costs, related to both the water distribution system and the water treatment plant on Gamble Road. Money to build up savings was also built into the study. Water treatment plant improvements being worked on by the engineering firm Benesch hold a price tag of $14.5 million and will likely be covered by loans.
Malmsberry also pointed out that Salem's water rates are extremely low when looking at the rates charged to other communities.
Commission member Kyle Cranmer agreed, saying he talked to friends about what they pay, and even with the increases, the city rates are still in a great place. Hodgson said he also did some research and looked at a report issued by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that looked at what various communities are paying for water. The average water bill was for 7,000 gallons of water at a cost of $53.53 per month. For the towns with the lowest rates, the average bill was $38 per month, with the new monthly rate for Salem city customers still way below average.
Hodgson said the commission is working on an explanatory flyer with all the information about the rate increase to help the public better understand the reasoning behind it.
As an example of some of the costs the utilities department is facing, he pointed to the fact that the cost for chlorine has gone up up considerably. During the meeting, the commission voted to accept the latest increase, acknowledging that they had no choice since they can't treat the water without it. The city received a letter Oct. 26 from their supplier saying the cost for chlorine was increasing to $1,000 per ton.
Utilities Superintendent Don Weingart said that's the third time this year the cost has been increased by the company. The cost had been $550 per ton, then was raised from that and now raised again. He said about 20 tons is used at the water treatment plant and another 4 tons at the wastewater treatment plant.
During a work session prior to the meeting, Benesch representatives went into further detail about the water treatment plant upgrades. They said the overall cost will remain at $14.5 million. The first priority will be an electrical upgrade with a cost of $1.8 million to construct a block building to house the new, much larger generator to power the plant. That cost will include the new building, the generator and upgrading the system and transformers. The current 350 kvw generator is located inside the plant and dates back to 1985. A larger generator of 800 kvw is needed to produce the power needed for all the proposed upgrades to the plant.
Benesch personnel also talked about the need for a lake aeration system, saying solar-powered mixers will be installed in the reservoir at a cost of $275,000 for five mixers to help prevent algae blooms. They also said two new drying beds for sludge will cost $500,000 and better drain water out of the sludge.
The next meeting of the Utilities Commission will be 4 p.m. Dec. 16.
mgreier@salemnews.net