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Story Archives: Western Ouachita sewer district raises rates


Western Ouachita sewer district raises rates
by Scott Rogers - posted Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 @ 10:51 pmE-mail Story E-mail Story | Print Story Print Story 
West Ouachita Sewer District No. 5's board of commissioners agreed to raise sewer rates to continue operations and to tackle future projects.

Lazenby & Associates, a civil engineering firm in West Monroe, has worked with the sewer district and the Louisiana Rural Water Association over the past several months on a rate increase study.

The board of commissioners on Sept. 14 agreed to raise residential rates from $15 per single family residential unit per month to $21 per month. The commercial rate was increased from $1.875 per 1,000 gallons of water per month to $2.625 per 1,000 gallons of water per month.

Jerry Lazenby, owner of Lazenby & Associates, informed the Ouachita Parish Police Jury about the sewer district's rate increase Monday. Lazenby spoke to police jurors during their regular meeting.

He said rates were last increased in 1997 from $10 to the current $15 rate.

Lazenby said the $6 rate increase per customer was needed due to increased maintenance and labor costs.

The sewer district has roughly 700 miles of pipe, and most of it is 35 to 40 years old, which means much maintenance is needed to maintain them, according to Sewer District manager Terry Cox.

Besides several infrastructure improvement projects over the next few years that could cost several millions of dollars, the sewer district also is in the process of upgrading its sewer treatment plant along with the city of West Monroe as part of the Sparta Reuse Project.

The reuse project, which is being spearheaded by the city of West Monroe, will allow Graphic Packaging to use wastewater in its production process. By using wastewater in its production process, Graphic Packaging eventually could be removed from the endangered Sparta Aquifer. The company currently draws 10 million gallons per day from the aquifer.

"That's a $20 million project," Lazenby said.

The state has provided $14 million for the reuse project.

The sewer district may entertain a rate increase in the next few years to cover the additional operation and maintenance costs for the Sparta Reuse project, Lazenby said.

That could mean another $9 to $12 rate increase a month per customer, which would bring the monthly cost for sewer district customers up to roughly $33 a month.

When the sewer district moves wastewater to the city of West Monroe's treatment plant, it is treated by the city at a cost of roughly $25,000 each month. Once the Sparta Reuse Project comes online, that cost will increase to around $100,000 each month, Cox said.

That will be why another $9 to $12 rate increase will be needed, Cox said.

The police jury created the sewer district so rate increases must be brought before the police jury for discussion. Though the police jury has authority over the sewer district, Cox said the sewer district has its own board of directors and its own sources of funding.

Police jurors Mack Calhoun and Charles Jackson represent the areas in western Ouachita Parish that are served by the sewer district.
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