April 5, 2024 |
Photo – Image of a Rawlins water bill. – Courtesy City of Rawlins
In Rawlins, residents may see their water bills headed higher.
On Tuesday evening, before their regular meeting, the Rawlins city council held a special work session to discuss proposed increases to the water and sewer rates.
The discussion boiled down to tough talk about the city finally coming to grips with fixing the water situation in the city.
City Manager Tom Sarvey told the council that, due to decades of deferred maintenance and neglect, the city’s water infrastructure is failing. Sarvey said many aspects of the water transmission line are in desperate need of repairs.
City Manager Sarvey said the needs of the water system can be broken down into two levels of urgency. The projects to tackle first are labeled as priority one. Sarvey said completing the six most important projects will cost $28 million.
The six “priority-one” projects are:
- replacement of the collection system at the springs
- rehabilitation of the transmission line
- increasing corrosion resistance on the transmission line
- necessary repairs of the pretreatment plant
- replacement of storage tanks at the city’s tank farm, replacement of the SCADA system at the water treatment plant
- and, replacement of the iron ductile lines between the storage tanks and town.
Sarvey said he will search for loans and grants to complete the most urgent projects, but the city will need to come up with an additional $2.5 million a year to revitalize its water infrastructure.
The city manager also created a list of slightly less urgent projects that need to be addressed. The 14 priority two projects will add another $14.3 million to the total price.
Sarvey said as of June of 2023, the city’s water fund has $1.2 million. However, the city had to move $812,000 from the general budget to the water fund for repairs at the Sage Creek Springs. Removing the loan from the water fund leaves only a little over $400,000
Sarvey said if past administrations had kept the water rates in line with expenses, the city wouldn’t be in this situation. The city manager said the water fund should contain at least $40 million, not $426,000.
Sarvey said taking out seven different loans has left the water fund with a lot of long-term debt. The city manager said if the city had kept the water rates tied to the actual cost of maintaining the system, there would have been no need to take out any loans. Because the city didn’t set aside money for emergencies, the water fund is now $4.6 million in the red.
Sarvey said the city also has money in the bank for the water fund. The city manager said over the past five years, the bank funds have decreased by approximately $1.8 million.
Public Works Director Cody Dill said the water lines that run to residents’ homes are in bad shape. Dill said so far this year, he has had to repair 25 water line breaks.
City Manager Sarvey presented the council with three options to increase the water fund and pay for the required infrastructure projects. The first scenario is the most drastic, said Sarvey. To pay for repairs and cover the water fund debt, the city manager said the water rates would need to almost double.
The second scenario assumes that the city receives a $500,000 grant from the federal government to replace water pipes that contain lead and copper. If that happens, Sarvey said the water rate would need to increase by 75%.
The third scenario Sarvey presented to the council assumes that the city still receives the federal grant but can opt to pay less of its debts. In that case, the city manager said a 56% rate increase will be required.
Sarvey said his report shows that the city must act now to preserve its water infrastructure. The city manager said no one likes the idea of increasing the water rates, but something must be done to prevent a future catastrophe.
The city council proposed alternatives to a drastic rate hike, such as charging all businesses that occupy a single building for water usage. However, Mayor Terry Weickum said the city is in a crisis and ordinance changes will take too long to institute. In the meantime, Mayor Weickum said the city must increase the water rates now to pay for immediate repairs.
Tuesday’s work session was called simply to walk through City Manager Sarvey’s recommendations. The city council will review Sarvey’s report and make a decision on all proposed rate changes during the April 16th meeting.
