Last chance for residents to re-consider rate hike

Third, final ordinance reading for water, wastewater rate increases tonight

Robert Edmonds, director of public works, left, shows El Dorado City Council Member Paul Choate the poor condition of water lines that have been replaced in the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure. The pipes were on display during a recent El Dorado City Council meeting. Today, the council is expected the hear the third reading of an ordinance that would raise water and wastewater rates to a level that will help pick up the pace in making much-needed infrastructure repairs, per a recommendation in a comprehensive cost-analysis and strategic planning study that was compiled for the El Dorado Water Utilities.
Robert Edmonds, director of public works, left, shows El Dorado City Council Member Paul Choate the poor condition of water lines that have been replaced in the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure. The pipes were on display during a recent El Dorado City Council meeting. Today, the council is expected the hear the third reading of an ordinance that would raise water and wastewater rates to a level that will help pick up the pace in making much-needed infrastructure repairs, per a recommendation in a comprehensive cost-analysis and strategic planning study that was compiled for the El Dorado Water Utilities.

The El Dorado City Council will convene for a regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. today and at the top of the agenda is the third reading of ordinances that, if approved, would increase water and wastewater rates to a level that will allow the El Dorado Water Utilities pick up the pace in making much-needed repairs to city’s aging water and wastewater infrastructure.

The proposal was part of a recommendation from a comprehensive rate and strategic planning study that was conducted by Raftelis, a utility and public-sector consulting firm that focuses on finance, organization and technology, including water and wastewater rate studies, cost analyses and financial and strategic planning.

To meet the goals and objectives that are outlined in the study, Raftelis recommended an annual 2 percent increase on the water side and 12 percent on the wastewater side — which would reflect an increase of 7 percent for the monthly bill for the average EWU customer.

EWU officials and Robert Edmonds, director of public works, agreed that the situation would be re-assessed within three years will provide a clearer picture for the next decade. The financial outlook that was included in the Raftelis study covered a 10-year period.

During a council meeting Feb. 6, Edmonds and EWU officials placed on display some water lines that had recently been replaced. The pipes appeared to be in poor condition and were encrusted with rust.

“This is a visual representative of the condition of the city’s water lines,” Edmonds said then.

“These cost $300, $350 apiece and the repairs can be in the thousands of dollars with manpower and equipment,” he continued. “There is a problem with infiltration with the wastewater lines but the problems is worse with water lines. These are 60, 70 years old and it’s all over town.”

In other unfinished business is a proposed resolution for the council to take over administrative duties for the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex.

Council members previously agreed to the proposal from Union County and convened for a special meeting later to clarify some of the terms of the agreement and some issues with which city officials had not been previously aware regarding the operations of the facility.

Proposed resolutions for the 2020 and 2019 city budgets are also on the council’s agenda for today.

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