The Rochester City Council on Tuesday heard a recommendation on hiring an engineering firm to help determine rates for a new stormwater utility fee.
Rochester Mayor Trent Odell is looking to soften the blow of a new stormwater utility fee on the city's horizon.
He suggested to the city council at its meeting Tuesday that an engineering firm be hired to help designate the fee rates by evaluating impervious surface areas. That suggestion came from former Warsaw mayor Joseph Thallemer, who Odell consulted with the day after the council's last meeting in June.
Equivalent residential units, or ERUs, would be used to calculate the stormwater fee for single-family homes. An ERU is the average square footage of impervious surfaces on a residential property, which are surfaces that prevent water from soaking into the ground.
The rate proposed for businesses, both small and large, also would be based on assessment of impervious surfaces by the engineering firm.
Those units of billing could also be tweaked to give nonprofits and churches a percentage discount, Odell noted.
"We can adjust how we need to and hopefully put a lighter load on our residents," Odell said. "I don't like to burden the businesses too much either, but you can deduct that expense."
Odell anticipated that a study of impervious surfaces throughout the city would take two to three months to complete before proposed rates could be established.
"We need to get these rates established," he said, noting that funding for maintenance of the city's aging stormwater infrastructure is currently being pulled from the street department's budget, and has been for years.
He told council members he would keep them updated as he learns more on the matter.
Six sentenced in sweeping multi‑million‑dollar cargo heist
U.S. Rep. Yakym’s bipartisan BARCODE Efficiency Act Advances
Applications available for Indiana Sheriffs' Association college scholarships
Deadline approaching for blind, disabled Hoosiers and seniors to receive property tax credits
One Night, One Cause: Indiana FFA needs your support for their ‘Blue and Gold Gala’
Gov. Braun secures National Drone Test Site Designation for Indiana
ISP with Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative this week
Rockville Town Board shuffles up leadership positions
Political candidates can begin filing this week
Historic sites bill passes out of committee
More than one-third of Christmas tree home fires occur in January
Temporary visitation restrictions enacted by Union Health due to uptick in respiratory virus cases
Reps. Heaton, Yocum: Indiana House accepting student applicants for 2026 page program
VCCF awards $2,500 grant to support Free Laundry Day Program
