By Sage Alexander
for water and 14% for wastewater, to end in 5 years.
A number of public commenters, who stated they are on fixed incomes such as disability or Social Security spoke at the meeting, and noted how hard the increases would hit them.
“I just want to give a reminder that you are not the only people that are contacting us and saying you want to raise our rates,” one commenter said.
Another commenter said the increase puts the district rates well above the average in the area. Other commenters noted that the water bills are already high.
Dale Warmuth said he doesn’t think the mailer sent out about the meeting and rate increase is a good enough notification, adding that he’s astounded by the increase.
Directors weigh in
Director Julie Ryan said at the meeting the rate increase is a result of decades of deferred maintenance that has fallen into their laps. She said she did not want to dump the rate increase on the next generation.
“We’re all investing in each other having clean water and not putting sewage out in the bay,” she said.
Director Joe Matteoli said that since nobody was showing up to the rate increase process, he had started reaching out to people in the last couple of weeks himself.
“It’s pretty much the same as what you all said tonight — I tallied 12 people and they all said no,” he said.
Later, Matteoli voted against the rate increase, as well as another increase that was passed 3-2 on sewer connections. He said that it’s a hardship for people and that he would like to step back and explore other options to keep the increase down.
“We already have a tremendous amount of breaks that are happening right now. It’s just getting worse,” said Hansen.
Leaky pipes in Eureka cause stormwater influx that pushes the wastewater treatment plant to its capacity, potentially causing overflows of partially treated sewage.
Hansen added the agency is chasing after emergencies, which are extremely expensive. He said it would be illegal to use revenue on anything other than water and sewer infrastructure, an accusation that came up during public comment.
The rate study stated that without capital investment in existing water and sewer systems, the future would be uncertain and service would not be sustainable at the current level of service.
“Rates were kept lower than they should be,” said Terrence Williams, general manager at the meeting. He added a lot of decisions were made in the past to support growth. He said he had been working to pull grant funding to keep rates as low as possible, adding that the district had never received any grant funding whatsoever before he started.
Williams also said the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District is charging more for water than what they’re proposing to charge ratepayers. The rate study noted sewer treatment costs from Eureka and increases in operating and improvement costs have also caused the increase. The board voted to modify sewer and water rates, with Gardiner and Matteoli dissenting. The rate will be reanalyzed next May, considering any grant funding the district might have received by then.
New connections
The board also voted to increase costs for new connections to the district that would take effect after 60 days. Williams said this would raise over a million dollars for the sewer fund over the next 10 years, and over $600,000 for water.
Earlier, Ryan said the way she saw it, working folks were subsidizing the rates of developers because the HCSD of the past has kept the price of the connections lower than what it costs the city. Heidi Benzonelli, president of the board, said, “it will increase the cost of building a house (by about $9,568 for (a) single family residential house with a 5/8-inch to 1-inch meter and standard sewer connection),” in an email.
Gardiner said unlike water and sewer charges, this increase didn’t require a public input process.
“If we need homes for our families, where are those people going to stay?” he said, adding that he sees it hurting and stopping the potential for development.
A public commenter involved in protesting the rate increase noted that if someone wants to build a house, she doesn’t want to have to pay for the connection.
“Even subsidizing didn’t bring in the development some people want,” said Hansen, adding that he is absolutely against subsidizing development and increasing everyone’s rates to do so.
He said if someone has to make a little less money on the house they built so ratepayers don’t have to subsidize them, so be it.
“To try and say that developers don’t make money off of this is disingenuous and kind of insulting, really,” he said.
Matteoli said at a time that more housing is needed, he would like to see it being built — from single-family homes to larger apartment complexes. He said the increase was too much, which is why he voted against it.
Benzonelli said in an email she appreciated the public participation and encourages people to attend the HCSD board that attends every second and 4fourth Tuesday of the month.
“Kicking the capital improvement can down the road especially when it comes to wastewater only prolongs the problem until it becomes an expensive emergency with not only financial, environmental but also legal consequences. This is the hardest part of the job, balancing our monthly impact on our ratepayer’s pockets while providing quality service and taking care of what we have,” she said in an email.
HCSD serves a population of 20,000 people in the Eureka area, especially outside of the incorporated city. HCSO operates a wastewater collection system with treatment to Eureka. HCSD owns 32% of the city’s treatment plant capacity.
The Eureka wastewater treatment plant is facing upgrades that will cost over $100 million dollars. It has been cited by the Water Quality Control Board after a Eureka report found not all of the treated effluent leaves the bay.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE: https://www.times-standard.com/2023/07/12/20000-residents-to-see-water-sewer-bills-jump-88-over-5-years/
GET WET! 