The Franklin Wastewater Treatment Plant pictured March 21, 2024. Daily Journal file photo
Franklin residents will see their wastewater rates increase this fall to raise money for $46 million in projects.
The Franklin City Council approved an approximately $27 per month wastewater rate increase Monday to pay for the wastewater treatment plant expansion and the second phase of the West Side Regional Interceptor project. On average, a user would pay $54.03 for 4,000 gallons compared to the current $27.29.
Metered users will pay $10.75 per 1,000 gallons of usage per month plus a base rate according to meter size. The added base rate total would range from $11.03 for a 5/8 to 3/4-inch water meter to $1,806.71. for an 8-inch water meter.
Unmetered single-family residence users will pay $78.76 per month without a base charge. Unmetered users other than residential single-family dwelling units will be charged a monthly fee determined by the city. There’s a flat fee for the unmetered users because there’s no way to measure the amount of flow since the city can’t know how much water is going in, said the city’s financial consultant Jeff Peters.
With the new rate, the city still remains below some comparable municipalities, including Bargersville, Greenwood and Greenfield, Peters said. The new rate puts the city above Martinsville at $52.41, Columbus at $40.37 and Mooresville at $46.02 for 4,000 gallons.
Alongside the increase, the city also chose to save approximately $8 million by deciding on a 20-year amortization rate rather than a 25-year amortization rate.
“We’ve been talking about this for longer than six years … we probably could have done something prior to that, but we haven’t. So this can’s been kicked and kicked and kicked. So it’s time for us to move forward with the proposal,” said Ken Austin, council member. “I do also think the 20 year is also fiscally responsible. I truly do. I think saving $8 million over five years is the right thing to do for all the users in the city.”
The city held a public hearing Monday and only one resident spoke. Bob Swinehammer, who resides on Paris Drive, questioned whether the rate structure was equitable between metered and unmetered users.
Swinehammer is a metered resident and he said he currently pays $34 per month in total with all utilities, including trash pick-up and other services. However, he said his neighbors who are unmetered pay double that and in some cases more than double in total for all of their utility services.
The reason, according to Peters, is that unmetered water rates are configured based on 6,300 gallons instead of 4,000 gallons like metered users. To figure out the new rates, he took the existing structure and applied the same increase for everybody.
Mark Richards, city engineer, said he asked a city official to gather information on some metered homes’ usage in the general vicinity near Paris Estates but not in Paris Estates. The usage ranged from 3,700 gallons per month to 6,400 gallons per month, so Richards said the city was “in the general ballpark” with the 6,300-gallon figure.
Swinehammer disagreed with taking a couple of houses out of multiple houses to determine if the rate is equitable, and he recommended the city change the proposal and use the same 4,000 gallons figure to determine the new rate for unmetered users. However, the city opted to approve the proposal as presented.
The new rates will likely take effect in October.
Plant expansion
The rate increase will fund an expansion of the wastewater treatment plant and the second phase of the West Side Regional Interceptor project.
The wastewater treatment plant was built in 1996. It is designed to treat an average flow of 5.13 million gallons per day. With the city’s growth in recent years, the plant is operating at close to full capacity during high flow times of the year.
In 2021, the city reached over 90% capacity at the plant, which raised a red flag and started conversations about increasing the plant’s capacity.
“The flows have trended down the last two years. The city has done some … projects that have likely helped reduce those flows,” previously said Gary Ruston, technical services director at Wessler Engineering. “But the flows to the treatment plant are highly dependent on wet weather, rainfall. You get into a wet year in 2024, then you could be back up at 90% capacity.”
Goals for the wastewater treatment plant expansion include replacing and updating aging equipment, providing more energy-efficient processes and equipment and increasing the design flow/treatment capacity to accommodate future growth and development, according to the city council presentation.
Bridget Ingram, project manager at Wessler Engineering, said on Monday that a new screening building was finished in March 2024 so that is one section of the wastewater treatment plant that is good to go. Wessler Engineering added that first to help increase overall capacity at the head of the plant, she said.
On a basic level, the company will add one more tank to each process and replace equipment with larger units, according to the presentation. This will increase the average flow by 50% to 7.5 million gallons per day.
“The big takeaway from all of this is there’s very few parts of the plant that we’re not expanding. Most of the components we’re adding to,” Ingram said. “And so we’re keeping most of the existing systems you have, just making it a little bit larger.”
The estimated cost for the project, including construction and non-construction costs, is $33.2 million. The project could be complete by fall 2027.
Ingram said the plant expansion is expected to set the city up to handle wastewater flows for the next 20 to 25 years.
Regional interceptor
For the West Side Regional Interceptor project, the plan is to construct an 18-to-24-inch gravity sewer and a new regional lift station and force main on the west side of the city to prepare for additional growth.
According to a sewer master plan for the city from 2019 or 2020, Wessler Engineering mapped out long-term needs to show anticipated growth areas and different types of development or zoning that are anticipated in the future, Ruston previously said. Two major areas that needed sewer service were east of I-65 and the west side of the city.
In 2022, the city pursued the East Side Regional Interceptor project that covered the area east of I-65. Ruston previously said a new interceptor and lift station are needed for future growth northwest, west and southwest of the city.
There is an existing U.S. 31 Interceptor that flows to the Young’s Creek Lift Station and serves the entire area west of U.S. 31 which is approximately a third of the city, according to the presentation. The interceptor and lift station are at capacity during heavy rain events.
Phase one of the West Side Regional Interceptor project was completed in December 2023. This includes a new interceptor along Branigin Road. This serves the area south of the high school campus and is tied into the Commerce Drive lift station, said Brent Siebenthal, principal engineer at Wessler Engineering, on Monday.
For phase two, the Commerce Drive lift station would pump through a new force main to a new gravity sewer, to a new lift station and to the east of the wastewater treatment plant, he said Monday.
The proposed remaining cost for phase two is roughly $13 million and construction is anticipated to take 12 months, concluding potentially in spring 2027.
This project would likely serve the city for the next 50 to 75 years, although Siebenthal said the lift stations could have a shorter time — 20 to 25 years — before work additional work may need to be done.
