(12/7) The Town Council voted 4-1 to raise water and sewer connection fees, nearly doubling the fees effective Dec. 6. The fees had previously been approved in October but the ordinance was reintroduced after changes in the Town Council.

The new water connection fees, will go to $4,145 up from $2,500. The new sewer connection fee is $5,065, up from $2,500. According to Town Manager Jim Humerick, the average household uses 250 gallons of water per day.

The Council originally introduced this ordinance at the Oct. 24 meeting, which was approved 5-0 by the then-Board of Commissioners but did not include projects already in the preliminary planning phase. Mayor John Kinnaird reintroduced the ordinance at the Nov. 7 meeting, after Commissioners Marty Burns and Bob Lookingbill were inducted to the Board so that the new commissioners could review the new ordinance.

The ordinance discussion was reopened at Lookingbill’s request at the Nov. 7 meeting. He disagreed that these businesses needed the notice because other costs in business and life frequently change day-to-day without notice. "I go to the grocery store today and something costs $5; I go back next week and it’s $6," Lookingbill said. "They don’t tell me in advance that things are going up. That’s just the way it is. If you want it, you pay."

Lookingbill was also concerned about projects that stop midway due to financial issues or any other reason. The mayor confirmed that under the Oct. 24 ordinance, these projects would not be able to use the previous water and sewer connection fees.

At the Dec. 5 meeting, the Council discussed a second version of the ordinance that added language about projects already in motion. The Town currently has five projects in the preliminary planning phase, according to Humerick.

This second version would have allowed projects to use the previous sewer and water connection fees for up to four years. Preliminary site plans expire after two years but the Planning and Zoning Commission can grant up to two extensions, up to one year each. "They could have four years or longer and lock us into the previous rate," Burns said.

The Council considered allowing an exception for preliminary site plans that are further along, but all five are around the same stage according to Humerick.

Lookingbill initially pushed for the immediate hike, despite his hesitation regarding the fees’ impact on the bank project. He said he would have preferred a subtle increase in increments over the years but that didn’t seem possible at the present.

Humerick said that he thought the reason the Town did not increase the connection and impact fees in increments over the past 10 to 15 years is because of a lack of development in recent years. "Now that we’re moving through the development process on a lot of these projects; I’m sure if we would’ve been looking at it more frequently, as we are now, we probably would’ve made that recommendation, but out of sight, out of mind," he said.