Youngstown Sewage Rates Going Up

[Penguins37]

That is correct RR, in comparison to other cities facing similar situations to ours, our rate increase is rather modest.  For instance, Akron is anticipating to have to more than double their sewer rates in order to comply with the requirements being outlined by the EPA.

[joly1584]

I keep records on utilities for my employer.

Sewer:
Jan '05 +7.01%
Jan '06 +7%
no increase in '07 thur '09

Water:
Jan '05 +15.55%
Jul '05 +4%
Jul '07 +9%
Jul '08 +10.52%
Aug '09 +10.49%

I don't have access to go further back than 2005.

I moved to Youngstown in 1992 and it always amazes me how little preventive maintenance has been done on anything in this area - even before the steel mills closed. 

[Why?Town]

Yeah I mean I would much rather get that 59% hike in one year.

Well good for you.

Considering that the US inflation rate is generally about 3% a year and this year it's a negative number, a 59% increase over 5 years, or even a 9% increase each year, sounds pretty damn steep to me. At 3% a year, that 59% increase should take about 20 years.

Has it been 15 years since the last increase?

[stewie]

Question
In light of the Youngstown 2010 Plan, why doesn't the city start vacating sparsely populated portions of the city so that more sewer lines and storm water lines could be taken off the system?

Jay,
In concept that sound like a good idea. However, just because a road is vacated does not mean that you can abandon utilities.  In fact most of the sewers collect flow from upstream areas that must be maintained.  Vacating streets would mean that crews would not be able to access the sewers as easily to clean them. Roots and debris would collect in them.  Eventually they would be to full of debris to clean and would have to be replaced.

[stewie]

I like the way they "mask" a 59.5% increase by spreading it out over 5 years.

Yeah I mean I would much rather get that 59% hike in one year.

[Why?Town]

I like the way they "mask" a 59.5% increase by spreading it out over 5 years.

[Penguins37]

It would be ideal to begin vacating some of lightly populated areas, however it is incredibly difficult to convince many citizens to leave the areas they are living in.  For instance, I recently had a conversation with a man who loved in a isolated area of the east side who told me that he could never be convinced to leave his home.  When people have a lot of space and a largely rural area around them for a rather low price it is tough to convince them that they should move to south side because it would fit with the 2010 plan.

[woozle]

I hope it helps with the Smell that we sometimes get in the city.. There have been times when I was on my way out to eat, and I could not stand the smell...

[jay]

According to a recent article in the newspaper, the sewer rate will increase 9.8% each year for the next five years.

[Towntalk]

How much are they going up in dollars and cents?

[jay]

Question
In light of the Youngstown 2010 Plan, why doesn't the city start vacating sparsely populated portions of the city so that more sewer lines and storm water lines could be taken off the system?

[Penguins37]

Virtually all of the City has a combination sewer system of some form, true storm sewer systems are few and far between within Youngstown.  While being constructed in the City's days of early growth the City installed sewer lines that would carry both sanitary flow and storm water flow.  However, due to limited capacity within the sewers combined sewer overflows (CSO) were installed to keep sewers from backing up into houses during a severe rain event.  The installation of CSOs was an incredibly common practice within midwestern cities, for instance, the city of St. Louis has over 300 CSOs.  When the CSOs are activated a combination of sanitary and storm water are released into waterways. 

To clarify your point Jay, new storm lines will not be installed, as that would be an incredibly costly and unrealistic option to pursue.  Rather, the City will install a series of large flow equalization basins that will temporarily divert and detain storm water in a heavy rain event and gradually release it back into the combination system in a manner that the system will be able to adequately handle.  Thus, by installing these detention basins the CSOs will be managed and not release combination sewage directly to the waterways. 

[jay]

Youngstown City Council recently passed a sewage fee rate which will increase annually over the next few years.  The revenue generated will be used to install storm water lines separate from sewage lines.

Question
Which areas of Youngstown have the problem of combined sewage and storm water?