Water, sewer rates set to increase in September

by Mary Coblentz
Monday, the Wellman City Council voted to approve the second readings and waive the third readings of two resolutions which will increase the water and sewer rates in the city. The new rates will go into effect after publication in The Advance and will be reflected in the September billing.
Water rates will increase $5 per month for the first 1,000 gallons to $19.45. This is part of the increase that will be needed to pay for the new water treatment system. The rates will eventually be raised a total of between $25 and $30 per month. The sewer rates will increase $1 per month to $15.45 for the first 1,000 gallons.
The council heard, during the public forum, from Julie Bontrager about the speed bump recently installed on Circle Drive. Bontrager said that the speed bump actually makes it more likely that someone will get injured because, after stopping, she now has to give her car more gas to get over the bump. Previously, she could “creep” forward to make sure the way was clear.
Bontrager said that if the speed bump was installed to prevent people from running the stop sign, “it seems to me this should be a law enforcement issue.” Bontrager said she was surprised the council approved installing the speed bump without consulting those who live in Circle Drive.
She was also concerned about snow removal on Circle Drive with the speed bump in place.
Bontrager has asked people who have been to her house about the stop sign and speed bump, and came to the conclusion that “you can’t see around the pillar” that is at the entrance of Circle Drive. “One person said ‘I didn’t know there was a stop sign,’” Bontrager said.
Bontrager said, “It seems to me that the solution would be to remove the visibility issue.”
Council member Bob Goodrich, who lives two houses down from Circle Drive, was a strong supporter of installing the speed bump. He said that people run the stop sign “constantly” and “we put that in for the safety of the kids.” The area is close to Wellman Elementary School, and many children walk across the intersection before and after school.
The city will look into who owns the pillars and if removing at least the one blocking visibility would be possible.
The council approved Digicon Inc. of Kalona to redesign the city’s website on a 3-2 vote. The estimate Digicom gave was $1,600. Council members Steve Slaubaugh and Matt Latcham voted against the motion. The money for the redesign will come from WATV funds. WATV staff member Larry Thurman address the council before the vote supporting Bob Grigsby, who had given a presentation to the council about the website redesign at a previous meeting.
Thurman said, “I support Bob (Grigsby) since he’s a volunteer for WATV. Jeremy (Richardson of Digicom) is more of an IT professional rather than a website design (specialist).”
Grigsby’s proposal was for a fixed $1,500 fee.
In other business, the council:

• approved the Home Gas downtown improvement grant. Home Gas has a new awning, and the fact that it was installed before the council formally approved the application was the result of a “misunderstanding” according to City Administrator Dave Ross; and
• set Tuesday, September 8, as the next council meeting. The regular meeting date, Monday, falls on a holiday, and
• approved three of seven change orders for the Parkside Activities Center. Those approved were an $8,250 credit to provide alternate lighting, $868.88 for sanitary sewer improvements (this was previously approved by the council but was not included in the last change order requests), and $929.25 to change building signage to add Sunrise Child Care and change Parkside Activity Center to Parkside Activities Center. Two change orders were denied. They were $8,575.50 to “rate” the elevator room and $3,366 to enlarge the window on the south side of the gym. City Administrator Ross feels the city can negotiate a better price for the elevator room, and the increased size of the window wouldn’t be worth the cost. Two other change orders, one for $708.75 to enlarge the openings at the gym exterior doors, and $3,028.30 for extending concrete columns on the east end of the building. Both of the tabled change orders were because of “architect error,” and the council wants to make sure the city isn’t paying for their errors before the change orders are approved.