Procurement News Notice |
|
| PNN | 2385 |
| Work Detail | Mapleturn Utilities Board members have notified its sewer and water customers that they will ask for a rate hike by filing a petition with the Office of Utility Consumer Council, a consumer advocate agency for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. According to board president Warren Waymire, the utility has not asked for a water rate increase since 1996, although the sewer side has seen a rate increase. Waymire said the small, rural plant has been praised for its state-of-the-art operations and has been visited many times by residents and those interested in building their own systems. Mapleturn Utilities has updated its sewer/water plant, added new filters for iron and trace metals from an underground aquifer and has added backup generators to the plant and the pumping station in case of a power outage. The waste water plant removes 99.9 percent of the waste before it is sent to the White River. “We are providing potable (drinking) water to the new IPL plant, which will be completed soon. We’ve worked with them a lot,” Waymire said. Waymire has been on the utility board for 22 years and has served as its president for 14 years. He still goes to the station two or three days a week to sign off on testing documents for the Environmental Protection Agency. “We test the water daily. I’m still very much involved with Mapleturn. It’s a way for me to give back to the community.” Plant general manager Randy Gramentz has worked for the utility since 1986, when it was owned by Foxcliff developer John Fewell. Since 1988, the utility has been owned by the residents it serves. Its board of directors are all volunteers. Money generated from the rate hike will go to maintaining the plant and replenishing its Capital Reserve Fund. Gramentz said this fund is to help the utility run for six months following a disaster. “We aren’t buying any new equipment or expanding the plant; this increase is just to maintain what we have. In the last couple of years we’ve borrowed from the CRF to pay our operation expenses,” Gramentz said. The rate hike will be done over two years, Gramentz said. In 2017, if the request is granted by the IURC, the average customer will pay an extra $4 a month. The next year they will pay $4 and some change more a month for a total rate increase of $8 a month. The utility started with only 100 customers, but now serves more than 600 in several Foxcliff area neighborhoods and up to Lincoln Hill. Gramentz said the board decided on the rate hike over other options such as applying to the State Revolving Fund for a loan or federal grants. As grants become available, the utility will apply. However, in the United States there are more than 3,000 utility companies that have lead and copper in their lines and suffer with failing water and sewer infrastructure. The letter states that the Mapleturn Board does not currently see impetus on Capital Hill for financially helping them. Yet the cost of materials, rolling stock, wages and specialty work have all gone up. Since the first pipe laid to new homes in Foxcliff happened in 1969, the utility has continued to lay pipe, coat it and repair lines that break. It is a continuous process, Gramentz said. The OUCC will go over Mapleturn’s fiscal plan and financial papers, tour its facility and ask questions that pertain to the application. Then, it will recommend that the IURC either accept or reject the company’s petition. The utility is located at 2001 E. Maple Turn Road, Martinsville. The staff can be contacted at the station at 765-342-7953 or mapleturn@sbcglobal.net. |
| Country | United States , Northern America |
| Industry | Water & Sanitation |
| Entry Date | 03 Sep 2016 |
| Source | http://www.reporter-times.com/news/local/mapleturn-utilities-asks-for-gradual-rate-hike/article_4dca8a56-b75c-56fd-b531-d5f9000e7292.html |
