Belpre schedules Sept. 3 special meeting after council amends water-rate proposal; sewer changes set for 2025

Belpre City Council amended its proposed water-rate ordinance and set a Sept. 3 special meeting to complete third readings and finalize the new rates.

At the Aug. 26 meeting, Council Member Mr. Ambrozy moved to replace the initial water-rate exhibit with an updated exhibit that increases both base and consumption rates for non-city residential and commercial classes. "This does not change the residential customers inside the city; it just changes the consumption rate for the other three categories," Ambrozy said. Council voted unanimously to advance the ordinance to the special meeting.

The council discussed specific changes in percentage terms during the second reading. Council members noted the residential customer outside base rate would rise 100% with consumption shown in the discussion moving from $2.32 to $4.64 per unit; commercial rates were described as increasing by different percentages (members cited a 50% increase for commercial inside customers). The council record shows the water-rate changes were discussed as taking effect Oct. 1, 2024, while a separate sewer-rate ordinance was discussed as scheduled to change in 2025.

Why it matters: The changes alter what customers outside city limits and some commercial customers will pay for water consumption and could shift revenue used for system repairs and projects already under way, including Well 2 rehabilitation and water-tower financing mentioned earlier in the mayor’s report.

Council procedure and next steps: Utilities Committee scheduled a special council meeting for Sept. 3 at 6:00 p.m. to hold third readings for the water- and sewer-rate ordinances. City Law Director Mr. Webster advised that the water and sewer ordinances must be discussed at that special meeting. The council’s vote on Aug. 26 to amend the exhibit keeps the ordinance on track for final consideration at the Sept. 3 session.

The city did not provide a consolidated, line-by-line rate table in the meeting transcript; several figures were discussed on the floor (not all categories or after-amendment totals were stated). The council said residential customers inside the city would not see a consumption-rate change from this amendment; changes described in the meeting affect residential customers outside the city limits and commercial customers.

What comes next: The amended water-rate ordinance will receive third reading on Sept. 3; the sewer-rate ordinance will receive final readings at that special meeting as scheduled. The transcript does not record the final vote totals for those future readings.