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Public Hearing on Water Rate Increase in Loyal

Thursday, May 23rd, 2013 -- 9:57 AM

-A public hearing was held in Loyal for citizens to have an opportunity to voice their opinions on the water rate increase.

The City of Loyal had a 5 year contract agreement with the City of Greenwood to treat their waste water. This agreement had been put in place by former mayors and public works directors of both cities.

Five years ago, Loyal had reviewed their waste water plant and found that major updates were needed, so much so, that it would have been feasible for the city to build a new plant. At the time, however, Greenwood had just created a new facility to accommodate a new business that was coming into the city. That ended up falling through, so Greenwood now had a facility that was not seeing enough water coming through to be viable.

The two cities decided to reach an agreement to solve both their issues, but, for reason unclear, Loyal residents were paying only $2.44 per thousand to have Greenwood treat the water and Greenwood residents were paying $6.58 per thousand.

When the contract expired, Greenwood asked for Loyal to pay a more appropriate amount. They initially asked for $8.00 from Loyal, but they agreed to pay the same as Greenwood with a 3% increase over the next 3 years, the length of the contract. The increase will allow the treatment plant to become economically viable.

Loyal residents are also going to see an increase in rates of .42 cents due to day-to-day operation costs. Greenwood is also going to see more of an increase due to new wells being built for the city.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.