photo by: Eric Ayres

Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron, left, listens as Mayor Denny Magruder speaks during a city council meeting Tuesday night at the City-County Building.

WHEELING — Members of Wheeling City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved 38% water and sewer rate increases that had been looming for several months.

Council also approved an ordinance that will allow the city to issue revenue bonds in an amount of up to $80 million to complete an array of planned water and wastewater system improvement projects. The bond ordinance was also approved unanimously after a third and final reading.

Councilman Ben Seidler was not in attendance Tuesday to vote on the legislation.

The revenue from the rate increases is expected to help repay the debt on the bonds.

New water and sewer rates for customers of those utility services provided by the city of Wheeling will go into effect Nov. 15. Although the the bond ordinance states a principal amount of “not more than $80 million,” the projects the bonds are financing are estimated to cost just over $66.1 million.

Officials have deemed these priority projects necessary to keep vital infrastructure for city services up to date.

“I don’t think there’s anyone at this table who wants to raise rates 38 percent. I mean that,” Mayor Denny Magruder said. “I think we’ve tried to do our due diligence. This is a need, not a want.”

Magruder noted that there has been a lot of news in recent months about surrounding communities that are having some “very serious problems,” mainly with their water but also with their sanitary sewer systems.

“Wheeling, knock on wood, has been blessed not to have that, because we’ve tried to keep up,” the mayor said.

City leaders have been discussing the potential for water and sewer rate increases for several months. Council members, city administrators, department heads and professional consultants have met on multiple occasions to discuss the list of priority projects in both the city’s water department and water pollution control department.

Officials have noted that currently, Wheeling’s water and sewer rates are among the most affordable in the state compared to other public service providers. Even after the rate increases are implemented, Wheeling’s rates will rank favorably among the many other municipal providers and public service districts in West Virginia.

Magruder highlighted the fact that the state has a total of 329 agencies that provide water service. Wheeling is 31st on that list in terms of its water rate for standard monthly usage.

“Which means there are almost 300 other entities charging a higher rate,” Magruder said. “After we raise the rate, we’re going to go from 31st to 81st. We’ll be in the 24th percentile, which is reasonable in the scope of things.”

On the sewer side, there are 310 municipalities and service districts in West Virginia that provide wastewater services to customers, Magruder said.

“Before the increase, we are 67th. We’re in the 21st (percentile),” he said. “After our rate increase, we’ll be at 160th — so we’ll be right at the halfway mark at 51 percent.”

Magruder said these figures simply help put into perspective the rate its customers are paying compared to other West Virginians.

“I just hope that when you look at it, you’ll feel a little bit better that we’ve done our due diligence and have been practical, and try to make sure that we don’t experience those same problems that so many of our neighbors are,” he said.

Three separate public hearings in connection with the rate increases and the bond issue took place at the beginning of Tuesday night’s meeting before council members voted on the measures. Only one person signed up to speak at any of the public hearings.

Local resident and business owner Carin Kuri spoke out against the proposed water and sewer rate increases.

“I just feel that the rates are high enough,” said Kuri, adding that she was speaking on behalf of other residents and business owners. “I’m paying $200 per month between my business and my place.”

Kuri questioned the purpose of the additional money from the rate increase, adding that there continue to be concerns about the city’s utility services — particularly the wastewater treatment plant that is “smelling horrible every day” in the area of Center Wheeling and South Wheeling.

City Manager Robert Herron outlined the list of prioritized projects, including $45.9 million in sewer projects and $20,230,000 worth of water projects that are on tap. He added that projects are already in motion that should address some of the foul odor coming from the sewage treatment plant — odors that have been even worse during the long stretches of dry weather.

Herron noted that city council had approved two ordinances totaling about $1.5 million that address cleaning of digesters at the plant.

“Which is contributing greatly to the smell that’s coming from the property and has been for the past several months,” he said. “The contractors are already mobilizing and are ready to go. We do anticipate them being on site sometime in November to begin the process of cleaning out those digesters.”

These efforts will greatly impact the “aroma” coming from the wastewater treatment plant, the city manager said. Passage of the new bond ordinance and the sewer rate increase will also open the doors for significant improvements at the plant, as well.

About $30 million from the list of priority projects will target upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant alone. Additionally, about $4.5 million in upgrades will be occurring there in connection with repair to damage from the April 2024 floods. A federal disaster was declared from last year’s weather event that damaged portions of the plant, and funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to reimburse an array of ongoing improvements there.

“Many components, including the gates, will be new as a result of FEMA assistance,” Herron said.