Winston looking at raising sewer fees
By Megan Sweeney, KPIC NewsWINSTON, Ore. -- There is a chance Winston residents will be paying more on their sewage bill in a few months. City officials are looking to add $1.50 per month for every sewer connection in town, to help pay for road repairs and transportation programs such as Dial-A-Ride. Winston used to get $98,000 a year from county funds, but those funds were eliminated after the county made major cut-backs in their budget. Winston City Administrator David Van Dermark says these street modifications are still needed despite a struggling economy. He says there are 17 miles of sewer lines under the streets, miles of streets with storm-drains and plenty of roads with ditches.
"We need to work on a system that we can effectively collect all the storm water in the city from all the old neighborhoods and all the new neighborhoods, and all the new businesses that are coming in, so we can collect that storm water and get it back to the river without flooding downhill neighbors." The storm-drain fees will also be part of a possible $1.50 charge. The city needs to hire an engineer to figure out the city's storm-water master plan and find out where all the elevations of the storm-water lines and catch basins are, and overall to have better technology to handle those city issues. The fee is currently on the sewer bill, but has a zero amount on it, the possible new charge would be added to the bill if passed. The Winston city council will be reviewing thse possible changes in the next few weeks. |
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