BELFAST, Maine — Belfast City Councilors debated Tuesday night how to keep the city’s wastewater treatment facility economically above water.
It has been seven years since the city raised its sewer rates, and in that time period, the amount of wastewater processed at the treatment facility has significantly decreased, from a high of 27 million gallons in 2007 to just 21.6 million gallons last year. While a decrease in water used might seem to indicate the city would pay less for the service, the opposite is true, Jon Carman, superintendent of the wastewater treatment plant, told councilors during their regular meeting.
“We’ve got the same number of pump stations, the same number of people [working], the same number of lines,” he said. “Everything is the same.”
He showed councilors figures from other communities in Maine that use the same activated sludge treatment process as Belfast. Those numbers indicate Belfast’s rates are lower than the norm, Carman said. According to his figures, 2,000 cubic feet of treated water costs Calais customers $207, $118 in Old Town and $95 in Belfast.
When councilors asked why the city has so much less wastewater right now, City Manager Joe Slocum said that Belfast has newer meters, which more accurately keep track of water consumption. He also said that many city properties have been fixed up, with new plumbing and fewer leaks. Councilor Mike Hurley also suggested that the city has seen an increase in seasonal residents, saying that when people live in Belfast only during the summer, their water consumption goes way down.
“So, from a sewer aspect, we’re using less. And now it’s going to cost people more,” City Councilor Eric Sanders said.
In the last two years, because expenses have exceeded revenues, the district used money from its $500,000 cash surplus to cover the difference. But Slocum said that because the city is expected to see a large increase in electrical rates after January, officials no longer want to dip into surplus to make ends meet.
Ultimately, councilors voted for a 7 percent increase for next year and a 7 percent increase for the year after that. That will add $8 to every 2,000 cubic feet of water treated. While councilors said that the dollar change isn’t too large, they did acknowledge that any increased costs can put pressure on residents.
“The bottom line is that we’ve been losing money,” Carman said. “We have to get to a point where we’re covering our expenses.”
In other business, councilors approved a request from Norm Poirier, the director of parks and recreation, to use $15,000 from the parks project reserve account to make repairs and improvements to Belfast City Park and the Belfast City Park playground. He told them that the playground recently was reviewed by the city’s insurance carrier, the Maine Municipal Association, and found to need some safety modifications. Those include having more wood fiber installed to cover the ground, installing signs to warn users that the steel slides get hot on hot days, replacing a water fountain and replacing a play device that is considered unsafe.
“In general, the playground receives a tremendous amount of use and needs to be attended to,” he said to the council in a memo.
Councilors also accepted a $5,000 grant to install outdoor fitness equipment around the walking trail in Belfast City Park, though councilors requested the equipment be selected to aesthetically be in keeping with the park. The grant, won by Our Town Belfast, would help create four or five different exercise stations around the park. The examples Poirier showed to councilors included a “balance steps” station and a station where users could get an abdominal workout.
“This looks a little modern for me,” Sanders said.
But other councilors had a different reaction.
“Anything we can do to provide opportunities for people to be more fit I think is great,” Councilor Nancy Hamilton said.
The council adopted with little discussion city land use ordinances. It also heard about private property owners’ idea to revitalize Washington Street and gave temporary approval to relocate several telephone poles to the other side of the street.