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Council tables sewer-rate ordinance after public outcry over flooding and equity concerns
Summary
During a public hearing on proposed sewer-rate increases tied to a Midwest Industrial Park expansion, multiple residents described chronic flooding and questioned whether rate hikes should precede repairs; the council voted to table Ordinance 35‑20‑25 to allow further investigation.
The Richmond Common Council held a public hearing on Ordinance 35‑20‑25, a proposed amendment affecting sewer rates to fund sewer work tied to expansion at the Midwest Industrial Park, and voted on Sept. 2 to table the ordinance for further investigation.
City staff described the sewer project timeline and financial background. Pat Smoker (Sanitary/utility staff) and others explained that the Midwest Industrial Park expansion requires additional sewer capacity and that the current proposal would increase rates (an across-the-board 6% treatment and base-rate increase proposed for multiple years, with a smaller stormwater percentage noted separately). Staff said industrial and commercial users make up roughly 70% of sanitary system usage and that bond-coverage requirements limited options for lowering the near-term rate impact.
Multiple residents told the council about persistent flooding in south-side neighborhoods and asked why rate increases would be imposed on all customers when localized stormwater and sewer improvements had not been completed. Eric Samland and other South Side residents described repeated basement flooding and lack of responsive follow-up from city staff. Samland said, “I’ve already paid…24 years of paying $6 a month for storm drains that we don't have.” Another resident, Sean Andre, questioned the economic justification for borrowing to extend sewer capacity before existing problems are fixed: “I do not see how raising everyone's sewer rates for the bond will actually benefit the people of Richmond.”
County officials and development advocates also spoke. Jeff Plaster, president of the Wayne County Commissioners, urged support for the sewer expansion to add capacity and enable filling roughly 300 acres of industrial park land, noting county and city investments in the park and the potential for tax increment financing to help pay for the project.
After the public hearing, Councilor Doug Goss moved to table the ordinance to allow additional review and outreach. The motion to table carried on a voice vote; the clerk recorded the motion carried and the ordinance will be taken up at a later meeting. No final rate change was adopted that night.
Council members discussed alternatives, including lengthening bond maturities, staging the project across years to meet bond-coverage tests, and whether a rate code could separately charge industrial users; staff said some rate-code separation might be possible but legal limits on capacity fees constrain options. Staff also noted a possible bond maturity change from 20 to 35 years could affect cash flow but might not solve bond-coverage limits in the near-term.
The council asked city staff (Pat Smoker) to collect contact information from residents who spoke and to follow up with a plan by the end of the week to address immediate flooding concerns and communication gaps.
The public record for the hearing includes numerous resident accounts of chronic flooding and property damage; councilors and staff emphasized the distinction between the council’s rate-setting role and the Sanitary District/utility board’s responsibility for on-the-ground infrastructure repairs.
