BELFAST - Sewer bills will be going up by 7-percent in 2015 and another 7-percent in 2016. The City Council approved the request from Wastewater Superintendent John Carman on Tuesday, but not without a lot of questions.

Carman noted that sewer fees had not gone up in seven years. That was part of the problem. Also revenue hasn’t kept pace with budgeted expenses. From 2011 to 2013, the roughly $800,000 budget of the wastewater treatment plant went up by 3-percent, while revenues in the same time period dropped by more than 8-percent.

In the last two years, Carman said, the facility drew from reserves to cover costs. He projected having to do the same to the tune of $90,000 in the current fiscal year. The rate increases, which would take effect Jan. 1 2015, would soften this blow to the system’s half-million-dollar reserve account by adding $60,000 in the first year and $56,000 in the second.

In a nutshell, Carman explained that Belfast residents and businesses may be flushing and draining less, but the city still has to run and maintain its treatment facility along with 31 miles of sewer lines and 18 pump stations. 

“We can’t keep sliding backward,” Carman said. “We’ve got to at least catch up. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The treatment plant measured a million cubic yards less usage from 2012-13. Asked why, Carman said he didn’t know.

City Councilor Mike Hurley said maybe it reflected more homes in Belfast owned by seasonal residents. Several weeks earlier, he and other Council members had puzzled over how to measure a shift toward second home ownership. On Tuesday, Councilor Roger Lee said water usage might give some indication.

Lee was initially opposed to approving increases for two years, but relented when he learned from Carman that the plant had also not put any money in reserves for six years.

“If we had raised our sewer rates 2-percent every year for the last eight years, we wouldn’t be here,” said City Manager Joe Slocum. 

The Council unanimously approved the increases recommended by Carman: 8-percent in 2015 and 7-percent in 2016.

Repairs at City Park playground 

The Council approved requests from the Parks and Recreation Department to spend $15,000 from a Parks project reserve account to make repairs and improvements to the playground at City Park, and to accept $5,000 from Our Town Belfast’s Healthy Maine Grant Program to install exercise station along the path that runs through City Park. Parks and Recreation Director Norm Poirier said money for the playground would fix all existing problems there, and any additions would be consistent with the spirit of the existing playground.

Zoning odds and ends

The Council adopted a list of City Land Use Ordinance Amendments for zoning districts inside the bypass. A larger package of zoning changes was approved at the Council’s last session, however this group was sent back for minor changes. Topics included: definitions of accessory apartment, formula restaurant, lot coverage and structure height; prohibition of formula restaurants in certain zones; establishing the maximum building height for Waldo County Hospital at 55-feet; establishing a Downtown Commercial zoning district and eliminating the former Waterfront 1-A district; establishing requirements and maximum height provisions for the Downtown Commercial district.

Moving utility poles before a major cleanup on Washington Street

The Council authorized Central Maine Power to move several utility poles on Washington Street temporarily to allow for the planned demolition of several buildings and environmental remediation on property owned by Trustworthy Hardware. The Main Street hardware store owns three contiguous lots with 390 feet of frontage on the west side of Washington Street, across from the municipal parking lot and skate park. Principals for the company have been working with the city for nine months toward cleaning up and redeveloping the properties. CMP will be shouldering the cleanup costs for a concrete “bunker” on the property dating to the 1950s in which the power company once stored coal. City Planner Wayne Marshall in Tuesday said tests revealed that coal tar residue had leached out of the bunker and was present under Washington Street and areas of the adjacent parking lot.

In other business, the Council:

• Appointed Steve Ryan as a regular member of the Planning Board. Ryan was previously an alternate on the board.

• Appointed Wayne Corey to the Regional School Unit 20 board of directors to fill a vacancy left by Jason Perkins, who resigned from the board. 

• Approved buying used equipment and other assets totaling $4,650 from the departing fixed base operator at Belfast Municipal Airport.

• Adopted new, higher maximum benefit amounts for the city’s General Assistance Program to match updates to maximums set by the state.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com