6
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Church
to host
Harvest
Fair
City takes a hard look at water, sewer rates
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Though everybody in
Sisters uses water and the
sewer system, a meeting
held last week to inform
the public about the results
of the water and sewer
rate study was only lightly
attended. City staff mem-
bers and City Councilors
in attendance outnum-
bered the four citizens who
showed up.
Chris Gonzalez, proj-
ect manager for the FCS
Group, gave a comprehen-
sive report on the findings of
his company’s study. Utility
rate studies are important
because they enable a utility
to remain self-sufficient, and
they ensure that rates reflect
utility policies and priorities.
With a moderate rate
increase of 2 to 2.5 percent
over the next five years, all
future capital improvements
can be made without going
into debt. The new recom-
mended rates are more equi-
table, encourage water con-
servation, and are very com-
petitive with other Central
Oregon cities. Redmond
is the only city with lower
rates.
Many residential custom-
ers are currently paying for
the base 1,000 cubic feet of
A Harvest Fair and Chili
Cook-off will be held on
Tuesday, October 31, from
6 to 8 p.m. at the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, 68885 Trinity Way in
Sisters.
The public is invited to
bring their best chili recipe
for judging.
Additional meal items
will be provided. In addition,
there will be a carved pump-
kin (bring a pumpkin already
carved) contest and other
fun activities. Costumes are
welcome.
Similar to a county fair,
there will be exhibit space for
attendees to display their tal-
ents, skill, or hobbies such as
baking, painting, woodcarv-
ing, photography, etc.
Highlight of the evening
will be a square-dancing
demonstration followed by
instruction for those want-
ing to learn square-dancing
basics.
There is no charge for the
event. For more informa-
tion contact Mel Petterson,
541-549-4499.
water and never using that
much water in a month.
Under the proposed new
rates, customers will pay for
the amount of water actually
used. A low-consumption
customer would benefit the
most from this change.
The sewer rate study
resulted in a proposed
change in how the rate is
determined. The current win-
ter period of January-March
that the City uses to calculate
non-residential (commercial)
equivalent dwelling units
(EDUs), would be expanded
to include October-April.
This change intends to
improve equity between
residential and commercial
customers by recognizing
that a number of the City’s
non-residential customers
do not exhibit representative
water usage patterns during
the January-March billing
periods.
With this adjustment,
the City can decrease the
monthly rate per EDU based
on the increased number of
EDUs assigned to some of its
non-residential customers.
Year-round
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maintenance or replacement.
Before City Council
approves adoption of the
new water and sewer rates,
the City will be conducting
outreach to their commercial
customers to educate them
regarding the changes. There
will also be a public hear-
ing at the time the Council
considers approval of the
rates.
The City reserve funds
connected to the water
and sewer utilities are in
good financial shape. In
the beginning of the 2017-
18 fiscal year, the water
reserve fund stood at $2.6M
and by 2022 should be
about $3.4M in prepara-
tion for some major capital
improvements.
The sewer reserves began
2017-18 with $2.2 million
and by 2022 should be $2.1
million due to expenses
related to bio solid removal
and replacing and upsiz-
ing equipment, which will
be about 20 years old. After
that, there shouldn’t be
much required in the way of
maintenance.
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A combined water and
sewer bill for a single-family
residence with a 3/4-inch
water meter and 700 cubic
feet of monthly water usage,
under the 2017 billing,
would pay $29.59 for water
and $39 for sewer, for a total
of $59.59 a month. Under
the proposed rates for 2018,
there would be a 1.9 percent
decrease in the combined bill
due to a decrease in the sewer
charge, for a total of $58.46.
The subsequent yearly
increases through 2022 run
between 2.1 and 2.4 percent
and are generally consistent
with the aggregate increases
in the utilities’ annual
costs.
The sewer system was
brand-new in 2001, so with
a basically new system and
equipment, the overall main-
tenance costs for the sewer
system are low. When the
system was installed, over-
sized lines were put in which
proved to be a very forward-
thinking action.
Capital improvement
projects are looking more at
system growth rather than
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