City of Camas Meeting - March 16th 2009

Rising Rates - Coming Soon!

“CAMAS" — The city council on Monday approved residential and commercial rate increases for water, sewer and stormwater fees, effective April 1.

The council also voted unanimously to hold off adopting the remainder of an aggressive, five-year utilities rate increase plan. That followed 90 minutes of pleas from several residents who cited tough economic times and fixed incomes. Even so, the new 2009 rates represent the steepest jump scheduled in that five-year plan.

Monthly water rates will rise 5 percent, sewer rates 34 percent and stormwater rates 46.3 percent on April 1. The rate increase applies equally to home and commercial users.
A Camas ratepayer with an average use of 800 cubic feet of water per month, according to city data, would pay another $11.18 per month more than the $45.11 now charged for the three services. That’s an increase of nearly 25 percent.

City staff told the council the cost of extending debate on higher rates to April would be around $50,000. Upon hearing that, members chose to approve only the 2009 rate hikes.
“The only downside that I can think of is that we’ll be here again in six months,” said Monte Brachmann, Camas public works director.

The larger, five-year plan for rate hikes, developed with help of a consultant group, was designed to help pay for $25.5 million in water and wastewater repairs, upgrades and expansion.

Please keep children away from the pond areas

Please Click Photos to Enlarge

Last week, the City of Camas contacted the Association in regards to a problem with our upper Water Detention Pond System. This is the system between Valley Street and Sierra. The Pond was filling up and not draining. Water was coming out of manholes, and Valley Street was having serious drainage problems. We don't have all of the details yet but it appears that there are multiple problems including excessive sediment buildup in the ponds, clogged pipes, burried drains and manholes, and the list goes on.

The City has already begun some work in the area to prevent more widespread problems such as downstream flooding or further damage to our pond system. The Association will be hiring a company, this Monday (March 9, 2009), to continue some of this work. This will include draining the west side of the pond and flushing out pipes that are critical for the proper functioning of the ponds and drainage system in the area, including Valley Street. This work needs to be done immediately or the City will have to do the work and bill the Association , which will likely cost us much more.

The Board is in the process of working with the City to assess the situation. Work done will be in stages. We will first take the immediate action that the City has required us to take. We will then get bids on the rest of the work that is required and discuss the bids, how the Association will pay for the work, and then we will schedule the work to be done.

In the meantime, it is important that everyone, especially children, stay away from the pond system because there are holes in the ground and the area is saturated with water. 

There is currently no danger of homes being flooded! We are most concerned with children playing where the City has been digging in the Pond area. Please contact the Board of Directors at phphast@yahoo.com with any questions or concerns and check back frequently for updates on the Association Website and this blog.

Thank you,

Your PHPHA Board of Directors