July 17, 2018
Public Works and Utilities staff defended rising fees in water and wastewater services as a necessary part of a growing city, as the City Council looked at proposals to limit growth in all city fees to 3 percent.
Donna Garden, assistant director of Public Works and Utilities, said the proposed 5 percent fee increases for water and wastewater are necessary to build up funding for a future project that will be necessary when the city outgrows its water supply coming from the Platte River in Ashland. Lincoln is contemplating getting additional water from the Missouri River.
“Growth (in population) isn’t going to pay for a second water source,” said Councilwoman Leirion Gaylor Baird.
The higher fees would also allow the city to use revenue bonds in the next few years to install the sewer system necessary for growth into the Stevens Creek area east of Lincoln, Garden said during Monday’s budget discussions.
