Council approves water/sewer rate increase

By Jim Young / jimyoungreporter@gmail.com

With work now underway on both the wastewater treatment plant expansion project as well as the Lake Tansi water harvesting project, the Crossville City Council approved the first in a series of water and sewer rate increases that will be required to pay for the expansions.

The increase approved by the council represents a five percent increase in water and sewer rates for all city customers. The increase raises the water rates by 18 cents per 1,000 gallons and raises the sewer rates 23 cents based on 1,000 gallons of water used for customers inside the city limits. Customers out side the city limits will pay an increase of 27 cents per 1,000 gallons and the wholesale utility rate will increase 13 cents per 1,000 gallons.

The increase for a customer that uses 5,000 gallons a month will be 90 cents a month for water and $1.15 for sewer. The monthly total increase would be $2.05 cents a month for this increase. Additional rates increases will be phased in as the projects move forward and the Meadow Park Lake dam project gets underway.

The council approved the resolution raising the water and sewer rates by a 4 to 1 vote. Councilman Jesse Kerley voted against the rate increase.

After good news for December's sales tax collections, above the previous year for the first time in almost two years, January's tax collections were down again. Bad weather may have been to blame, but council continues to be cautions about spending city funds on things that can be delayed.

The council turned down two requests to purchase property at the March council meeting over money concerns, one of those for the proposed new fire hall near Holiday Hills. After studying the property that the city currently owns, property across the street appears to be a better fit for placement of a fire station because of the topography of the city owned property. Some $250,000 of site preparation is estimated to be needed to make the city owned site ready for construction of a new fire station.

Studies presented by the fire department have determined that the best location for a new fire station is at Holiday Drive on Sparta Highway. While the project will help the city to maintain its insurance rating, or ISO, the project is quite costly and the ongoing costs of personnel have the city council concerned about the long-term costs to the city's budget.

The alternate location presented by the Crossville fire department and representatives of Uplands Design Group was to purchase five acres directly across Sparta Highway from the city owned property that is much flatter and would only require $55,000 for site preparation. The cost of the new property is $320,000 and includes additional acreage that could be used for future needs, including a fire department training facility.

When the time came to decide, council members delayed the purchase of the land, asking if the city could purchase just the front portion of the property to locate the fire station and not the entire 5 acres at a reduced cost. No action was taken but the council will look at the matter again soon.

The council also turned down the opportunity to purchase two lots on Genesis Road that would expand property adjacent to the Centennial recreation park and expand road frontage. The two lots were offered to the city for $330,000.

The property originally purchased by the city had only a very narrow strip of land to access from Genesis Road. Later, the city purchased one additional lot to allow an entrance to any future expansion from Genesis Road. The two lots would have given wide road frontage.

Mayor J.H. Graham III and councilman Earl Dean supported the purchase but council members Boyd Wyatt, Jesse Kerley and Carl Duer voted not to purchase the property.

With only one council member opposed, the city council approved doing away with the so-called bridge insurance program after 10 years. The bridge insurance program was put in place just over 10 years ago and allowed city employees who had 25 to 30 years employment and minimum age to retire prior to age 65 and the city would pay for their personal health insurance until they were of age to qualify for Medicare.

A recent study by city staff showed the large potential cost in the future should eligible employees take advantage of the benefit. The maximum cost for the 10 year time frame could be as much as $684,000. Should the program not have been canceled, the cost to taxpayers could have exceeded $3 million.

The matter was brought up at a previous meeting and city attorney Ken Chadwell was instructed to research if the city could legally end the benefit for employees that were already on the payroll. According to Chadwell, it would be legal for the city to end the benefit with three months of notice before it goes into effect.

The motion was made by councilman Duer to end the benefit after 10 years with the change effective in three months. The motion passed with four yes votes and councilman Kerley opposed. Kerley's grandfather Wendell Kerley had brought the matter before the council originally when he was a council member.

Text Only