TOWN OF LOCKPORT
Sewer rate increases presented
LOCKPORT — Supervisor Marc R. Smith rolled out a plan for sewer rate increases Wednesday.
The Town Board agreed informally to hold a public hearing and a vote on the plan at its final meeting of the year Dec. 17. The higher rates would take effect with January billings.
It calls for increasing the quarterly base fee from $25 to $30 and adding a usage charge for residential customers. Business customers have been charged for sewer services based on their water usage for several years.
For homes, the town would add a charge of $1 for every 1,000 gallons of water used above the town average of 15,000 gallons. Businesses would keep the charge they’ve been paying, which is $3 for every 1,000 gallons above 18,000 gallons per quarter. A business that uses more than 118,000 gallons of water in a quarterly period pays $1.50 for every 1,000 gallons above 118,000.
Smith’s original proposal envisioned keeping the quarterly fee for businesses at $25, but Councilman Paul W. Siejak objected.
“Everybody uses the same sewer system,” Siejak said in calling for businesses to pay a flat $30 user fee per quarter, too. “I want to make it fair and equitable for everyone.”
Councilman Mark C. Crocker didn’t agree with Siejak. “Every community I know has some incentive for business,” he said.
Also Wednesday, Chief Building Inspector Eugene Nenni and Assessor John Shoemaker urged the board to restore a part-time clerical job, shared by their departments, that was cut out of the 2009 town budget.
The 17-hour-per-week job, which pays about $10.50 per hour, was for a person to take charge of scanning new and old building permit applications, rulings and plans into the town’s computers. The worker also served as a receptionist assisting people with questions at the front counter.
Nenni said all new submissions are scanned at once, while old ones back to 2006 have also been entered into the system. He said he wants to go back as far as possible.
The job was vacated last month in a domino effect caused by promotions in the assessing department, with other employees moving up the ranks.
Councilmen seemed open to restoring the post. Smith said, “I think they’re seriously going to reconsider it. . . . We’re doing twice as much work in the inspections department as we ever did before.”
Town Attorney Daniel E. Seaman endorsed the proposal, saying it’s easier to find old plans if they are on the computer.
Also Wednesday, Councilman Paul H. Pettit announced that a requirement for sewer traps will be deleted from the town’s building code for new construction. Also, instead of doing away with front-lawn sewer vents, the town will require they be better protected by placing a steel cap over them.
The board also agreed to allow an adjoining property owner to mow hay on town land off Akron Road, which was purchased in 2006 for a possible future road extension.
