Sheldon water rates to increase in September

Friday, July 29, 2016

By Gabe Franklin

Nevada Daily Mail

Sheldon residents may soon see increases in their water bills after the board approved the first reading of an ordinance increasing water rates at a July 14 meeting.

"We're selling water too cheap to replace our infrastructure," Mayor Pro Tem Robert Moran said.

The board voted unanimously to approve the increase to the water rates. Customers may begin to see the changes on their bills in September, as the ordinance reads, "for water usage measurements taken after Aug. 24."

If approved after a seconding reading in August, the water rate according to the ordinance will be "$10 for up to 1,000 gallons (minimum) and, $1 for each 100 gallons thereafter." The current rate is $12 for the first 2,000 gallons and 50 cents for each additional 100 gallons.

"We're pumping a lot of water and we're doing it at a loss," Moran said.

According to Moran, Sheldon supplied 9.2 million gallons of water to approximately 543 city residents in 2015. The city's water system is losing 6 percent of the water pumped into it, which Moran said is below average.

The new rate will result in a $28,000 increase in revenue if the 2015 usage remains unchanged. Total revenue for water would be approximately $92,000.

According to the ordinance, "revenue collected by this adjustment shall be used solely for improvements to the potable water system of the City of Sheldon."

Moran later said that the city's water tower is nearing 100 years old and the rest of the water system is aging and the city needs a cash reserve in case of major problems or to pay for upgrades.

He said the city's water rates needed to be within a certain range in order for the city to qualify for certain grants and loans. The rate is based off a percentage of income for the area.

In ongoing discussion concerning the sewage lagoon, Moran suggested several ways to pay for the repairs including grants, co-ops, and simply telling Missouri Department of Natural Resources the city of Sheldon does not have the assets or capability to pay for the needed repairs to keep the sewage lagoon in compliance with the state permit.

"If you ask people to pay $150 per month for sewage, what is going to happen?" asked Moran. "Of the options available, we can apply for a grant but in getting grants, those who give grants believe that you should have to have a certain sum of money that you're collecting for your water system. We don't meet that requirement."

Sheldon is part of a six community pilot program under Missouri Department of Natural resources aimed at making sewage permit compliance possible for small communities with few resources. DNR is investigating the possibility of establishing lagoon emissions limits on an individual basis.

"This is a real emergency," said Moran.

Sheldon has until 2019 to be in compliance with new sewage permit requirements or the city may face hefty fines.

Additionally, notices will go out in the July water bills telling customers that if they are $150 overdue on their water bill they will be subject to disconnect. Residents will be able to make arrangements with the city to pay past due water bills but must keep current bills up to date.

In other business, Moran presented a chart to the board showing the hours that the Sheriff's Office reported being in Sheldon on contracted time.

"One of the things I have remarked on previously was the time frame in which the Sheriff's Office has patrolled," Moran said. "As you will notice, the preponderance of the time they are here is between one and six in the morning."

The city of Sheldon has contracted with the Vernon County Sheriff's Office since 2013 to provide law enforcement services within the city for 12 hours per week.

Moran said that he had compared June's report with that of other months this past year with similar results.

"These are the times they reported to us they patrolled in Sheldon," Moran said.

"I had hoped that Lt. Randall would be here this evening so I could share this with him because he probably doesn't look at it terribly carefully and this might affect how he and Sheriff Mosher give directions to their deputies on being here."

Board member Lois Levaugh said she had seen deputies in town at times other than what were listed on the report.

During a telephone interview Thursday afternoon, Sheriff Jason Mosher said that the Sheriff's Office has asked the city of Sheldon several times in the past if there were specific times the city wanted a deputy to be in town.

"Last feedback we got was they didn't want to tell us when deputies came out," Mosher said.

Board member Perry Fowler said during the July 14 board meeting, "For what we're paying them, I don't know what good we've got out of it. Patrol stats have never jived with the patrol information,"

Fowler continued, "Of the five things written in this months patrol information, three of those things are something they would have been doing as Vernon County deputies whether we were paying them or not. It seems to me, we're paying for something they are doing anyway."

Mosher said Thursday anytime a deputy is called to the city outside of contracted hours, those hours are not counted towards the weekly contract total.

"We've never done that as far as I know," Mosher said regarding attributing contracted hours to incidents where a deputy was not already present in the city.

"I offer no conclusions, only data they provided in a way that is more visible," Moran said.

Moran said he has met with Sheriff Mosher about code enforcement, but not about patrol times.

Mosher said Thursday, the Sheriff's Office doesn't always inform the city when they change the times that they dedicate to the city.

"Coverage is sometimes dictated by trends the Sheriff's Office is seeing," Mosher said citing a number of recent overnight break-ins.

Mosher explained that in the recent past, deputies have been tasked to be in Sheldon at different times of the day for different reasons.

First, was an issue with teenagers driving around town at high speeds after school. Mosher said this was the last specific time that a deputy was requested to be in town.

The next issue was individuals riding all-terrain vehicles on the city streets late in the evening. The overnight break-ins have been the most recent issue.

Mosher said that unlike the nighttime and early morning, there are more people out during the day and evening who can call for law enforcement if they see something.

Also a topic of discussion during the July board meeting was removal of old criminal evidence that is being stored at Sheldon's city hall.

"We've asked them [the Sheriff's Office] about this for over a year and a half and nothing has been done," Moran said

As a separate issue, Moran said, "we don't have good [code] enforcement capabilities for things like animals at large, overgrown grass, junk in backyards, and other things."

The contract between the city and the Sheriff's Office dates to 2013 and reads in part, "Pursuant to RSMo. 57.101, the Sheriff of Vernon County and his Deputies are hereby authorized to enforce the Ordinances of the City of Sheldon."

Mosher said that without the existing contract in place, the Sheriff's Office could not enforce city ordinances. The Sheriff's Office has supplied Sheldon City Hall with complaint forms that residents can fill out. A deputy will follow up and may issue a warning or citation as necessary.

"If we can do that, it will somehow help when they are in town because at 3 a.m. in the morning they are not going to knock on a door and issue a citation, but they would during normal business hours or the time that people are here, and if the person is not at home, they need to come back," Moran said.

Moran continued, "My request of the council is that we give him [Mosher] the opportunity to do that, and see if it helps us with the complaints we have."

"We're more than happy to work with the city any way we can," Mosher said Thursday.

Moran said that no decision was needed because the contract is ongoing. The city of Sheldon pays the Vernon County Sheriff's Office approximately $650 each month to provide extra patrol services for the community.

* The city's application for a grant to demolish dangerous buildings was declined.

* The city made a partial payment of approximately $18,000 to contractor Mark Rives for construction of the bandstand.

* The city's sickle bar mower used to maintain the lagoon grounds is broken. The cost to repair it is $1,400, which is what the city originally paid for it. Mowing around the lagoon is the only place where it was used. The city will explore options for outsourcing mowing of the lagoon to a contractor.

* Alderman Perry Fowler presented the board a letter from the Sheldon Picnic Association pledging $4,000 towards the cost of the bandstand.

* The board voted unanimously to enter closed sessions for personnel related issues.

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