GALION—In the aftermath of recently proposed utility hikes, Galion residents have questioned the validity of proposed water and electric increases.

In a recent council utility committee meeting, Mayor Tom O’ Leary warned council that hikes are imminent. He told council the city used more electric than citizens were charged last year and that the rates the city pays to acquire electric are expected to rise.

On the water/sewer side of the equation, the challenge, according to the Mayor, is to raise sewer rates to pay interest and pay down significant debt for the screw pump and lift station.

While he suggested using ARPA (American Recovery Plan Act) monies to pay the debt down now, there would need to be allowances in the budget for those monies next year, translating to a rate increase.

The city, according to many citizen comments on social media, is not in a valid position to raise any rates (especially water and sewer) when the city is under direction by the Ohio EPA to correct the levels of organic material in the water through analysis testing.

In a letter from the Ohio EPA dated October 26, 2021, the EPA made the following comment:

“The city previously performed UV254 for analysis for operational control. This test provides a quick measure of the organic content of the water. The Ohio environmental protection agency recommended the water system resume use of the UV254 analysis to access the organic content throughout the train to identify opportunities to optimize organics removal in the distribution system and to identify areas that may benefit from flushing due to higher organic loads. Provide an explanation in future Ohio environmental logs reports if Galion chooses not to resume the UV254 analysis.”

Notices sent out in the August 2021 Galion water billing caused residents to become extremely concerned about the safety of ingesting the water that has not been analyzed.

Councilman Tom Fellner responded to the concerns in a post he made on the Galion City Watch Page in August:

“This happens almost every summer. The TTHF’s are caused when we have an increase in organisms in our reservoirs (like algae) from hot temperatures and the increase in sunlight. They react with the chlorine used to treat our water, and these trihalomethanes are by-products. .08 is the max, and ours is .081. Technically it is a violation, and we are required to report it to the consumer. I am responding as a citizen and a councilperson.”

But with Unreconciled books from June-December of 2021 and no progress towards reconciliation in sight, citizens are making their frustration known through social media.

One council member at large, Paula Durbin, agrees with her constituents that this is not the appropriate time to raise any rates with unreconciled books. Mayor O’ Leary disagrees, insisting that the increases are inevitable.

The citizens of Galion have questions about why books are not reconciled, why electric costs were underestimated, and exactly how safe it actually is to drink the water.

Council tabled rate increase discussions until more information is received and progress is made toward reconciliation of the city’s books.

Crawford County Now will follow this developing story.