Warsaw Mayor Joseph Thallemer gave a short presentation on the current and proposed sewage rate.

WARSAW — An amended sewage rate ordinance was presented and passed during the Warsaw Common Council held last night, Nov. 20. The amendment eliminates the billing department charge for all users.

Before presenting the amended ordinance, the council was asked to amend the project description. Due to bid estimates coming in lower than anticipated, it was requested that the council expand the scope of the project. Randy Rompola with Barnes & Thornburg LLP, explained that the amendment, “Just allows more work to be done with the same amount of borrowing money.”

The lower bids were credited toward the large size of the project, long amount of time available to complete the work and the preparation work that the street department already completed. The council unanimously approved amending the project description.

“It would be foolish not to take advantage of this opportunity to get these pipes fixed the right way,” said Council President Mike Klondaris. It was noted that just yesterday, emergency repairs had to be done on Indiana Street for sewer repairs that were previously identified as needing repaired with this project.

The council then addressed amending the sewage rate ordinance. This was the second reading of the second ordinance regarding sewage rates after the first ordinance failed. The presented amendment eliminates the  $3.97 billing department charge for all users.

Warsaw Mayor Joseph Thallemer noted that the amendment would result in a lower rate increase for the first phase of the project, but would result in a higher increase for phase two. “Somewhere that amount has to be offset … any reductions would need to be offset with the second phase increase.”

It was explained that the amendment would result in an across the board increase for all users, instead of single-family dwellings being charged differently than multi-family dwellings.

“I’ve always been about keeping this fair and equitable across the board,” said Klondaris.

All council members expressed their approval of the amendment and the phrase “fair and equitable” was repeated several times. The council approved the amendment unanimously.

The ordinance was then opened up for a public hearing. The public hearing portion of the meeting was very short compared to meetings in the past. Several apartment managers and landlords urged the council to look further into how the city considers billing apartments in the future, especially when it comes to non-metered customers.

Without much comment, the public hearing was closed and a vote was taken on the sewage rate ordinance. The ordinance passed unanimously and the city now will be able to start on phase one of the project with help from the State Revolving Fund grant.

In other news:

• The council approved a transfer of $2,000 from the machinery and equipment fund to the repair and maintenance fund within the cemetery budget. The rules were suspended and the transfer was approved without a second reading.
• The council approved a transfer of $290,000 within the Northern TIF budget for professional services regarding the airport annexations. The rules were suspended and the transfer was approved without a second reading.
• City Planner Jeremy Skinner presented two resolutions regarding the Gatke project and the council approved both. The first resolution declared the property a blight/slum area. The second resolution allowed an OCRA grant to be applied for in which the city agrees to match 10 percent of demolition costs.