CROTHERSVILLE
Nonresidential property owners in Crothersville soon may see an increase in their monthly utility bill.
Earlier this week, the town council approved the first reading of an ordinance establishing stormwater user fees for nonresidential properties within town limits.
The nonresidential rate schedule is broken down into six classifications based on square footage. The monthly fee ranges from $3 for nonresidential properties less than 10,000 square feet to $144 for those exceeding 360,000 square feet.
The council will consider the final reading of the ordinance during the next meeting, set for 6 p.m. April 4 at the town hall.
Since November, those living in homes, apartments and mobile homes in town — nearly 800 units — have paid $3 more per month.
That money goes into a stormwater utility fund so storm drainage improvements can be made around town. That would include new culverts, stormwater piping and separation of wastewater and storm drainage conveyance piping in efforts to reduce standing water and flooding issues. The ongoing fund also would help make repairs at the sewer plant.
The fund currently has more than $7,000 in it, so town officials decided it’s time to start working on drainage issues.
Mason Boicourt, the town’s wastewater superintendent, presented quotes for the purchase of a mini excavator so he and other town employees can do the work. He said the backhoe they have isn’t made for digging ditches.
The two Case models he found are 8,000 and 12,000 pounds and have a ditch bucket with a hydraulic tilt, which helps workers dig on sloped areas. Wilson Equipment Co. in Louisville, Kentucky, quoted the smaller one at $55,000, while the larger one is $68,850.
Boicourt said he preferred to go with a 36-month lease because it wouldn’t be a large one-time expense for the town and they could use leftover money from the fund each month to purchase materials, including pipes culverts and rock. He said they only have a handful of culverts now, and they need to have a few different sizes on hand for when work begins.
Once the lease ends, the town would own the machine.
The monthly payment would be close to $1,600 for the smaller machine and nearly $2,000 for the larger one.
The town already is bringing in more revenue than that with the $3 rate on the stormwater utility fund, and that fund will increase once the nonresidential properties are added in, Boicourt said.
“People are paying, and they are going to want to see results,” he said. “I think we need to get moving because we’ve got revenue coming in, and we’re going into the wet season right now. If you dig ditches when it’s wet, you can actually tell the way the water needs to go.”
Wilson Equipment Co. will be bringing both mini excavators to Crothersville for the employees to try out and decide which one will work best.
That would then be presented to the council to approve so work could start.
Chris Mains, the town’s street superintendent, said the top complaint they receive from residents is standing water, and they have a list of targeted areas to begin working on.
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Crothersville stormwater fund rate schedule
Classification;Description;Monthly rate;Yearly rate
1;Single-family residential;$3;$36
2;Apartments/mobile homes (per unit);$3;$36
3;Nonresidential less than 10,000 sq. ft.;$3;$36
4;Nonresidential 10,000-60,000 sq. ft.;$12;$144
5;Nonresidential 60,000-160,000 sq. ft.;$24;$288
6;Nonresidential 160,000-260,000 sq. ft.;$48;$576
7;Nonresidential 260,000-360,000 sq. ft.;$96;$1,152
8;Nonresidential more than 360,000 sq. ft.;$144;$1,728
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