By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
A recommendation for water and sewer rate adjustments expected to be considered by Dowagiac City Council in April came in for criticism Monday night.
Mayoral candidate Howard Hall said, "At least the increase of $1.75 per month will be across the board for everybody. However, raising the late fees and the reconnect fees is only going to hurt lower-income residents and senior citizens."
As reported in Monday's Daily News, based on a preliminary review by Dowagiac's consultant, city officials expect the composite rate increase to be just under 5 percent, with sewer being somewhat more and water somewhat less, resulting in an increase of about $1.75 per month for the average residential customer.
Other proposed changes include hikes in penalties for late payments and increases in reconnection fees.
Also, the administration will be proposing a refund of utility deposits for those customers who have remained current with their payments for 12 months.
Returning to his March 14 remarks about the dormant parks and recreation board, Hall added to it concerns about the apparently inactive Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and programming he says is called for in the charter.
Hall said, "Since (the last meeting), I spoke with (City Manager Bill) Nelson and he explained to me a little bit about the PAL (Police Athletic League) board. Although I'm sure they're very good people, it doesn't appear that they have any money in place for summer programming for kids in town."
Hall noted that at the last meeting, the council voted to raise park use fees. "Shouldn't this fee increase have been addressed by the parks and recreation board and then brought to council for your approval? Instead, the council is making these decisions on its own. If the parks and recreation board was in place, citizens would have had the opportunity to voice their concerns about the increases. By council only allowing the public to speak prior to the daily business, we had no opportunity to be part of the process.
Hall posed three questions. How is the DDA functioning? "Can the citizens of Dowagiac count on this City Council sitting here right now to put back together your parks and recreation program and have activities for the kids this summer?" And third, "There are reasons cities like Dowagiac have charters and boards. One is to make sure city officials don't overstep their bounds while in office and to guarantee citizens have a voice in their local government. So why is it the city has chosen to bypass the rules set forth in the city charter and make these decisions on their own, without any input from your citizens or the committees and the boards that are supposed to be provided?"
City Manager William Nelson Jr. responded that there will be a summer recreation program this summer, provided as last summer, through the Police Athletic League (PAL).
Nelson also said the DDA's work is being carried forward by its committees.