By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
The Bucyrus Finance Committee took one step closer to establishing new water rates. That committee met Wednesday night, just before a special Bucyrus City Council meeting, to discuss the water treatment plant and the pending water rate hikes.
Though it is the Service/Safety Director who sets the water rates, the application process for the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) loan requires the support of Council in written form. The OWDA loan, which will cover the design costs for the treatment plant, totals $893,236.
“We can get the design loan money much more quickly,” Auditory Joyce Schifer explained about moving forward with the process. “We’d be looking at probably September going through the WSRLA (Water Supply Revolving Loan Account) group and we may be able to have this the first of June going through OWDA.”
Should the city not use all of the funds provided through the OWDA loan that money will then be rolled over into the construction loan.
“It’s an opportunity for us to take advantage of the fact that the OWDA rolls much quicker than the WSRLA does,” said Council President Sis Love.
Though the Finance Committee passed a motion to authorize the mayor to go to contract with the OWDA, it was not without a tension-filled discussion concerning how money was spent after the loan for the Outhwaite Reservoir was paid off.
Committee member John Walker believed that $503,000 in surplus funds was generated after the Outhwaite Reservoir loan was paid off should have gone into the water plant fund.
The city put $15,000, a portion of that $503,000, into the water plant fund in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Between 2010 and 2013, $115,000 was deposited into the fund annually. An additional $115,000 will be added for 2014.
Schifer said they will continue to draw out $115,000 every year to apply toward the loan. So far, $483,000 has been appropriated in the fund.
Walker, however, didn’t believe that that amount was significant enough. He argued that more should have been deposited into the fund.
“I disagree,” Walker said, “When the Outhwaite Reservoir was paid off, there was a surplus of $503,000 a year. That’s a pretty good surplus to be absorbed.”
“You also have to understand that since that time our revenue has gone down and our rates have not increased since 2002,” argued Schifer.
She added that if they had increased the amount coming from those surplus funds, the city would have had to increase the rates long before now. She noted that most of those funds were used for expenses and purchasing new equipment that the city had put off buying in order to pay off the Outhwaite loan.
Love added that if they would have increased the amount being deposited into the water plant fund, they would have been running in the red within the water fund, which is not allowed by state law.
Finance chair Bill O’Rourke jumped in and asked if, once they had the 20-year loan paid off, they could request that the council at the time return the rates to be in line with the city’s funds. Law Director Rob Ratliff suggested that a resolution could be written at a later date to enact such a request.
The Bucyrus City Council met directly after the Finance Committee meeting. With two council members absent, City Council lacked a full quorum to pass any legislation on the agenda. The resolution that dealt with closing the streets for the Customs and Classics Car Show on June 14 will be submitted as emergency legislation at the next Council meeting.
Service/Safety Director Jeff Wagner announced that the Aumiller Pool will be opened for Memorial Day. Regular pool hours will begin May 31.
He also noted that garbage pick-up for Monday, May 26 will be picked up on Tuesday, May 27 in observance of Memorial Day. The city will be running double routes that day.
Four committee meetings have been scheduled for Monday, May 12. The Service Committee will begin the round of meetings at 7:30 p.m. followed by the Public Lands and Buildings Committee at 7:45, the Economic Development Committee at 8, and the Finance Committee at 8:15 p.m.