By LISA BOWERS

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — A combination of township growth and reduced water usage along with capital improvements projects has led to a proposed increase in water and wastewater rates in 2019 for Marquette Township.

Under the proposed change, the water base rate will increase from $7 to $8 and volume water rates will increase from $8.66 per thousand gallons to $8.76 per thousand gallons.

Wastewater costs will rise from the current rate of $11.83 per 1,000 gallons to $12.77 per 1,000 gallons.

The proposed rate increases will fund four capital improvement projects that are expected to be completed in the next several years.

Improvements to the water system include $60,000 for an automatic transfer switch with a generator, $10,000 toward updates of the programmable logic controllers and $28,000 per year over three years for motor controls of the system.

Township Manager Randy Girard said the goal would be to proactively replace the whole motor control center for the system in 2021.

The current system, although it is still functioning, is 45 years old and is limited to simply turning the pump that fills the Cox water tank on or off, Girard said. That leads to increased wear and tear on the pumps themselves as well as elevated energy costs for the township from the Marquette Board of Light and Power.

“I guess the question here is the same as the question being asked in many other places that are doing a budget: Do we do a proactive replacement or do we wait for it to fail and then replace it?” Girard said.

The sole capital improvement project approved by the board for the wastewater system is a new automatic transfer switch with a generator for $60,000.

Girard said conservation efforts and water-saving measures users have employed over the last decade do not change the fixed cost of operating the township’s water and wastewater systems. The flat or declining revenue does not reflect the level of growth in the township.

In fact, Girard said, the state equalized value, or SEV, of properties in the township has grown 47.7 percent since 2007.

“In 2007 our SEV was $210,621,900 … (In) 2018, this year, our SEV is $311,138,400. That means growth, that means more people, more houses, more buildings,” Girard said. “(A) 47 percent increase for that span between 2007 to 2018, but our water consumption has remained flat or gone down. Because growth goes on and utility (use) goes down, it doesn’t mean that our infrastructure costs less. It doesn’t make our operation cost less, that’s why those rates go up.”

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. Her email address is lbowers@miningjournal.net.