Penn Yan adjusts sewer, water rates

    PENN YAN—The Penn Yan village board approved changes to both the water and sewer rates at the Tuesday, June 19, village board meeting.
    A public hearing was held on the proposed changes at the start of the meeting. While there were two people in the audience, no one spoke about the the increases and decreases in the rates. Later in the meeting, the board approved the changes.
    Even though some of rates show triple digit increases, Brent Bodine, director of public works, calculated a possible monthly change of only a few dollars when he factored the increases and decreases. He said the base rates are determined by the amount of debt the village is repaying. He added that the variable charges are calculated based on the operating costs of the plants and the anticipated amount of water that will flow through the plant.
    He said if a village customer used 5,000 gallons of water in a month, the new cost for water would be $48.41 a month and sewer would be $33.13. Bodine added that this is calculated using 5,000 gallons of usage and not necessarily what a customer will be charged. Using the previous rate numbers and 5,000 gallons in a month, the water rate is $44.60, while sewer is $34.30.
    Individual increases included:
    • Residential monthly base rates for water will increase to $7.51, from $3, a 150 percent increase.
    • Residential monthly base rates for sewer will go up $8.08, from $4.80, a 68 percent increase.
Decreases included:
    • The charge for residents per 1,000 gallons goes down to $8.18, from $8.32.
    • The charge for users outside of the village per 1,000 gallons decreases to $12.27, from $12.48.
    • Sewer users within the village will pay a consumption charge of $5.01, down from $5.90.
    • Sewer users outside the village limits will pay a consumption charge of $7.52, down from $8.85.
The board also changed village code to require a public hearing before other future rate increases. Deputy Mayor William Allison said it makes the board’s actions more transparent. Attorney Edward Brockman explained a public hearing was not required previously.
    In other business:
    • Trustee David Reeve said the village is considering making Water and Wagner Streets one-way. While the streets are two-way now, both were one-way when the bridge was being replaced. Reeve said the planning and development committee is considering making Water Street run from Liberty to Main Street and Wagner run from Main to Liberty Street. One other consideration was eliminating Wagner completely. Reeve added they are looking for input from all departments and businesses on a direction change.
    • The board gave a negative environmental impact statement (meaning no harm) to the village’s tree planting project. Brockman said 100 trees would be planted within Penn Yan.
    • A survey was approved to be done of the Basin Street parking lot, at an estimated cost of $800 to $1,000.
    • The board approved Estabrook Corporation to rebuild raw water pump number three, costing $7,796.
    The next Penn Yan village board meeting will be Tuesday, July 17, at 6 p.m.