Genoa: Village alters course on water/sewer study
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Two ordinances that would establish a surcharge on water and sewer rates for users in Allen and Clay townships who receive the utility service from the Village of Genoa have been voted down by village council.
The ordinances, which would set a 50 percent surcharge for water and sanitary sewer service outside the village, had their first reading at council’s Feb. 5 meeting but were voted down March 4 at the request of mayor Brent Huston and Thomas Bergman, village administrator.
At the Feb. 5 meeting, Bergman informed council he’d met the prior week with Ottawa County commissioners Mark Coppeler and Don Douglas to express his concerns about a study to be conducted by Ottawa and Lucas counties, the City of Toledo, and the Northwest Water and Sewer District. Each of the four entities is contributing $25,000 for a feasibility study of a regional water and wastewater management system that could service a large scale industrial user.
In his reports to village council and in correspondence with commissioner Douglas, Bergman has voiced his frustration the village wasn’t being seriously considered by the county as a potential water/sewer supplier for a potential major economic development project should a suitable site be found in Clay and Allen townships.
The village purchases its water from the City of Oregon while the Northwest Water and Sewer District purchases about 68 percent of its water from Toledo and about 12 percent from Oregon.
At a Jan. 23 special meeting of village council, Bergman told members of council there was no legal way to prevent Ottawa County from “rolling out the red carpet for the NWWSD/City of Toledo” but the trustees of the two townships would still have to approve any needed rezoning of property or authorize any Joint Economic Development District tax-sharing agreements.
Minutes of that meeting quote Bergman as saying that for 40 years the village has refrained from surcharging utility customers in the townships. He recommended to council that it “signal how serious of a threat this is to Genoa and begin reading ordinances that would surcharge township residents 50 percent but to set the effective date July 1, 2024.”
According to the minutes, Bergman said the trustees deserve time to decide whether the Genoa area community is “on the same page or not.”
OCIC to host meeting
In an email message to The Press after council’s March 4 meeting, Bergman wrote: “The Ottawa County Improvement Corporation intends to call a meeting to start back at square one and get all of the stakeholders together and work out an arrangement. We have very high confidence in OCIC and are following their lead.”
Ordinance 15 has been tabled but ordinances 16 and 17 were voted down.
-Ordinance 15 would establish a 50 percent surcharge on electricity for customers outside the village and a 50 percent surcharge on sanitary sewer charges for sewer customers who are both outside the village limits and are also outside the contract service area set by agreement with Ottawa County and the Village of Clay Center and the townships. The ordinance also sets a surcharge for sanitary sewer customers who are located on contiguous property outside Genoa; located in the contract service area, and are connected directly to the Genoa-owned and installed sanitary sewer system.
-Ordinance 16 would have established a 50 percent surcharge on water and sanitary sewer rates for customers in unincorporated areas of Clay Township not contiguous to the village. But the surcharge on sanitary sewer service would go into effect Jan. 22, 2028 when an agreement with Ottawa County that prohibits sewer surcharges expires.
-Ordinance 17 would have established a 50 percent surcharge on water and sewer for customers in Allen Township, including inside the Village of Clay Center. That sewer surcharge would also go into effect in 2028.
Ordinances 16 and 17 say the village had “refrained from establishing a utility rate surcharge in the spirit of partnership” with the townships and that Toledo “would seek a Joint Economic Development District agreement to allow Toledo to collect income tax in exchange for utility extensions…”
A Feb. 13 letter from Bergman to commissioner Douglas says, “My opinion that Genoa must move quickly to obtain written agreements from Allen and Clay townships that the townships will not sign JEDD agreements without Genoa as the water provider remains unchanged.”
In response, Douglas writes: “One of the next steps that the regional participants will be taking is to develop a master plan for water and sewer services to the Tri-County area including Eastern Wood County, Southern Lucas County and Western Ottawa County. This plan will provide a technical review of the existing capacities and capabilities of local jurisdictions to provide water and sanitary sewer service to a potential mega site development project of 1,000-2,000 acres… No decisions have been made by any local jurisdiction other than to develop a master plan.”
He concludes his letter by writing the commissioners would like to address the township trustees and village council and mayor at a future council meeting before council takes action on the ordinances.
Mitch Hoyles, a Clay Township trustee who attended a meeting with Mark Stahl, a county commissioner, and other county officials, said he primarily went to listen and hasn’t formed an opinion yet on the study.
“From what I was told, they want to allocate some funds for a study. Nothing was presented in writing. I think they were brainstorming as to how this might happen but there was nothing formal in any way,” he said.
Ernie Cottrell, an Allen Township trustee, said he was glad to see the OCIC getting involved.
“Instead of making a presentation or asking us, the first thing council did was an ordinance with a 50 percent surcharge. Personally, I didn’t appreciate the way it was handled. After they came to our trustee meeting I think it became clear that was the case and I think that is why they voted down two of the ordinances,” he said. “With some outreach from the county or CIC to include Genoa, which they should be, it puts us in a better position to work with them.”
While the village and Clay Township don’t have a JEDD agreement in place, they have had a written memorandum of understanding for sharing property taxes on land that is annexed from the township to the village. Under the agreement, Genoa receives 55 percent of the property taxes and the township receives 45 percent. The agreement was renewed in 2017 and is scheduled to expire in 2037.
Also, the village raised its water and sewer rates effective Jan. 1 of this year. Water rates were raised 5 percent for 2024 through 2027. Metered sewer rates increased 15 percent this year and 3 percent in 2025-2027.
In a notice sent to users, Bergman writes that the water increases are needed to cover the costs of improvements to the village’s water towers and rate increases from Oregon. The sewer increases are needed to meet expenses from an overhaul of the sanitary sewer system.