(Spirit Lake)– A significant increase in water and sewer rates could be in the offing soon for Spirit Lake residents.
City Administrator Pete Hegeman says the fees haven’t been adjusted since 1996. He says the increase is needed to cover the 3.5 million dollar cost of improvements to the water plant. A new water tower is also being proposed for the city’s south side at an estimated cost of 2.2 million dollars.
A seasonal rate structure is being proposed for water–one for the summer and one for the winter. Under the structure, the typical residential customer in Spirit Lake using five thousand gallons per month would pay $27.60 per month in the winter and $34.60 per month in the summer. The increases would be higher for Orleans and non-city customers. A 10-dollar per month customer charge is also being proposed. No increases are being proposed for the monthly meter fee.
For sewer, the minimum monthly customer charge would increase from $1.93 to $2.40 and would NOT include the first one thousand gallons of usage. The typical residential customer in Spirit Lake would pay $6.40 per month for their sewer bill, based on a usage of five thousand gallons a month.
The city’s Utility Committee voted last week to recommend the council consider the proposed increases. The council has scheduled a public informational meeting to talk about the proposed increases for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14th at the Dickinson County Community Building.
