December 16, 2022 |
The Glenn Addition corral owners may see some relief in their water bills. The group will meet with Interim Rawlins City Manager Tom Sarvey this afternoon to discuss a possible adjustment to the water rate recently levied on the agricultural area in the south side of the city.
On December 1st, the corral owners saw their monthly city utility bill jump from $32 to $75. The $40 increase was double what most residents and business owners saw. Rawlins City Council approved a water rate increase in September after a study determined that the rates, which had not been raised in years, were not keeping up with cost of running and maintaining the system.
The corral owners say they understand the need for the increase. They question the amount levied on the corrals. The area is strictly agricultural. No on lives there. With one master meter measuring water usage, a corral owner who uses the least amount of pays the same monthly bill as the largest user. The owners also question some of the fundamental numbers that went into assessing overall water use in the Glenn Addition. They also say a leaking fire hydrant contributed to some of the recorded water usage.
Earlier this week, the corral owners presented the city with a petition that offers two alternative billing plans.
One is a flat fee of $40 per month. The second option would essentially set the total rate at $46.74 by reducing the amount of water the Glenn Addition uses as estimated by the city at 450,000 gallons a month to 225,000 gallons.
Austin Thomas owns one lot in the Glenn Addition. She helped organize the petition, gather the signatures and present to city hall this week. Thomas emphasized that corral owners organized themselves because they are just looking to be treated fairly.
File photo of horse drinking water.
In an email to the group yesterday, the Interim City Manager said a mistake was made on their water usage when the water rate study was being compiled earlier this year. Sarvey wrote, “The flow that was used in the calculation of the original rate included water usage that does not belong to the Glenn Addition. When this additional flow is removed from the calculation it will lower the monthly rate.”
Sarvey also said the water use data was taken from a time a fire hydrant in the Glenn Addition was known to be leaking. The hydrant has since been fixed. Sarvey said he would estimate the amount of loss and remove it from the usage number, as well.
He said his initial estimate could reduce the utility rate by $10 a month. The corral owners are asking for a reduction that amounts to $25-to-$35 a month.
The meeting between the interim city manager and the Glen Addition Corral owners is set for 5 p.m. tonight at the Comfort Inn in Rawlins. Thomas told Bigfoot 99 in an email Thursday that the group hopes to get some answers and an affordable plan in writing.
