Council ratifies utility rate increases
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, February 24th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – The Hermiston City Council has ratified what is basically an automatic adjustment of water and sewer rates due to inflation. The construction inflation rate for 2020 was just over two percent, which is the adjustment that has been made.
“For the combined sewer and water bill for the median customer, that averages out to an adjustment of about $2.13,” Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said.
The council also adopted the 2021-2026 Public Works Capital Improvement Plan. One of those projects would see the city replacing a little less than three miles of seriously aging water main. Morgan said that’s just a drop in the bucket.
“Those are predominately water main that we anticipate to be anywhere from 80 to 90 or 100 years old,” he said. “For reference, we have about 91 miles of water main currently existing in the city.”
Other highlights of projects include constructing four sewer lift stations of the city’s 12 which are nearing failure and rebuilding North First Place between Hermiston and Elm.
