Councilman Ed Lyons informed council members and Clerk Tony Rodgers via email on Saturday that he would be unavailable for the Monday evening meeting. Lyons did not provide a specific reason for his absence and requested that it be excused.
According to the city’s charter, a total of at least five council members, not including the mayor, must be in attendance at any given meeting. Though only one of the eight members had requested absence, Mayor Jeff Gore said he felt the items planned for deliberation during Monday’s meeting were of enough significance to warrant the attendance of all members.
“There are staffing issues, potential water rate increases, budget amendments and the 2023 budget itself on this agenda,” Gore said in a subsequent email to all council members. “It’s my opinion that we shouldn’t have a meeting of this magnitude without all members of council in attendance.”
Council is set to vote Thursday on an ordinance that would increase the city’s water rates by 7.5%, beginning with the Feb. 1, 2023 billing cycle. This increase, which would raise the water portion of an average monthly utility bill by $2.66, would allow for collection of an estimated $500,000 to be used for engineering and design of $4 million worth of water main replacements.
A vote also will be held to approve an amended version of the proposed 2023 budget. According to Gore, council will consider increasing the budget by at least $4.5 million in allocated funding that would also go toward water main replacement efforts.
An increase in water main breaks — most notably in Ward 4, which Gore said has aging infrastructure — has lead to the need for extensive repair and replacement. Ward 4 is both north and south of Chambersburg Road, between Old Troy and Brandt.
City engineer Russ Bergman told council in 2021 that breaks in the water mains are likely due to soil erosion, but he said the breaks also started to become more frequent after the city finished installing a water softening system in May 2020.
The city budgeted $4 million in 2022 to replace around 8,000 feet of the aging pipe in Ward 4, work which is set to begin soon, Gore said.
Overall, Gore said replacement of all affected water mains could cost anywhere between $40 million and $50 million.
“We need to find a funding source that generates revenue to support all of the extra water mains that need to be replaced because we can’t just add $40-50 million to the budget over the next five years without a way to pay for it,” he said.
A third critical piece of legislation to be considered Thursday would establish an amended organizational chart outlining staffing levels — a resolution that was rejected in a 4-3 vote on Nov. 28. Dissenting council members cited concern over the proposal to change the “parks manager” position to “parks technician,” situating the position within the department of public works.
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