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A supplement to The Press Newspapers December 3, 2018
RESS December 3, 2018
Serving More Than h 29 29,000 000 H Homes & B Businesses i iin 4 C Counties ti
Top left, three year old Callia Cholometes, of Michigan, tells Santa Rick and Mrs. Santa Kathi what she wants for Christmas as her grandma, Claudia Clouse, of Tiffin, looks on. Top right, Samantha Stewart provided holiday music as her brother John (bottom left) checks out the Festival of Trees at the Pemberville Opera House. (Press photos by Ken Grosjean)
Oregon
Water, sewer rates to increase next year
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Cities that don’t stay ahead of that end up with catastrophic problems and we don’t want that to be Oregon.
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Oregon City Council on Monday voted unanimously to increase the water rates for the water treatment plant and water distribution system, and sewer rates for the wastewater treatment plant and sanitary sewer system. The new rates will be spread out over a three year period, according to Public Service Director Paul Roman. The water rate will increase by 15 percent next year, 10 percent in 2020, and 10 percent in 2021. The sewer rate will increase by 10 percent next year, 5 percent in 2020, and 5 percent in 2021, according to Roman. “At the end of three years – in 2021 – the minimum bill will go up by about $18 per quarter,” he said. “The average is dou-
ble that - $36 per quarter at the end of three years.” Forty percent of residents meet the minimum rate requirement. City Administrator Mike Beazley said at a committee of the whole meeting last
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• Cardinal Stritch • Clay • Eastwood • Genoa • Gibsonburg • Lake • Northwood • Oak Harbor • Waite • Woodmore Cover photo: Cardinal Stritch senior Joey Holifield (Press file photo by Doug Karns)
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Christmas in Pemberville
By Kelly J. Kaczala News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com
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month that there were several reasons why the rates were being hiked, including: •Increased algae and microcystin in the lake; •Increased regulations dealing with corrosion prevention throughout the system; •Increased mandates from the EPA to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant; •Addressing the aging water pipe infrastructure system. “Cities that don’t stay ahead of that end up with catastrophic problems and we don’t want that to be Oregon,” said Beazley.”Most of the water lines will have 80-100 years of life. We have some that are getting that old now. On top of that, a lot of the ductile iron that was produced in the 50s and 60s has a short shelf life. Some of the neighborhoods and parks in the com-
Carroll Twp.
Audit flags overpayments By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com A miscalculation by a former Carroll Township fiscal officer of the township’s annual budget resulted in overpayments in 2016 to the fiscal officer, two former trustees and a current trustee, according to a state audit report released last week. The four officials were overpaid a combined $3,571, the report says. Former trustees Rodney Biggert and Kenneth Gyde were each overpaid $913 and James Meek, a current trustee who took office in January 2016, was overpaid $959. Jessica Brough, the former fiscal officer, was overpaid $786. The township and Meek last month agreed to a repayment plan calling for him to pay $100 monthly starting in January 2019 until the amount is fully paid, the report says. State law lists the authorized pay rates for trustees and fiscal officers based on their township’s annual projected budget, which covers total revenues available for spending. “Former fiscal officer Jessica Brough based the township trustees’ compensation for the period of January 1, 2016 through March 2016 on an estimated budget in the $6 million to $10 million range,” the report says. “The calculation of township trustees’ compensation using the $6 million to $10 million range doesn’t appear reasonable given actual 2016 unencumbered balances plus actual receipts…” Moreover, Brough didn’t certify the total amount from all sources available for expenditures with the Ottawa County budget commission as required by state law. When Tina Gyde took office as fiscal officer in April 2016, she filed an amended certificate of estimated resources that put the township’s budget in the $3.5 million to $6 million range. Because Brough authorized the direct deposits that resulted in the overpayments to the trustees, she and her bonding company are liable for $2,785 to the extent not recovered from the three as well as her overpayment. The township was also cited for Continued on page 2
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...the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle. Jim Hightower See page 7
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