The Camden City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to implement a state-mandated rate increase for Camden Water customers at Tuesday night's meeting.
Ordinance No. 01-23, authorizing the rate plan, was approved unanimously. Alderman Lawrence Askew was absent.
According to the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, retail water providers must perform a rate study every five years, and implement the rates determined from the study within a year of the study's completion, or two years if the rates increase by 50% or more.
David Richardson, general manager of Camden Water Utilities, said in an interview earlier this year that the City of Camden has not seen a rate increase since 2020.
"And as you know, COVID hit and inflation hit and and it hit us pretty hard in the last three years, not having a rate increase. So, the first year increase is going to be maybe even a burden sometimes on some customers, but that increase on the average 4,000 gallon consumption customer in a household; they'll see, on the water side, that first rate increase, they'll see about a 13% increase on that water bill," Richardson said.
"On the sewer side of that water bill, the scale (is) about 20% increase on that sewer bill. Sewer's higher than water in the sense that there's more customers covering the cost of water than there is sewer, because we only serve inside the city limits and then our water sales go beyond the city limits and we serve five different water associations, so they can help," he continued.
New equipment
The Council also voted 5-1 to purchase a used bush hog and bucket truck for Public Works at $36,000 for a 2023 Kubota L356 and $134,657 for a 2023 Bucket Truck.
Alderman L.E. Lindsey asked City Shop Supervisor Terrell Newton if the bucket truck was capable of supporting a hydraulic chainsaw.
"This one doesn't have any capability running a hydraulic chainsaw, so you can still have a person with actual regular chainsaw instead," Newton answered.
Lastly, the Council voted with 5 ayes and one abstain to create a Heavy Equipment Operations Foreman position within the Department of Public Works.
A job summary provided by the City of Camden states that the "purpose of this position is to operate and supervise the use of medium to heavy equipment used to excavate, demolish, load transfer or move dirt, gravel or other materials in the maintenance of the City infrastructure and other public properties."