Avon Lake Municipal Utilities

Phillips, Dzwonczyk and Whitmer to serve on the Board of Municipal Utilities

At the biennial organizational meeting Paul R. (Randy) Phillips, John G. Dzwonczyk and Charles W. Whitmer were sworn in to serve on the Avon Lake Board of Municipal Utilities. Phillips will serve his first full term and Dzwonczyk and Whitmer their second and fourth terms respectively.

In other business before the Board, Charles Whitmer was elected as Chairman and Dave Marquard Acting Chairman, John W. Kniepper was appointed as Clerk and Rick Eberle Acting Clerk. The Board appointed John Kniepper Chief Utilities Executive and Rick Eberle Chief of Utility Operations for the next two years.

In a final piece of business the Board moved to maintain regularly scheduled meeting nights as the first and third Mondays of every month at 7:00 pm, except for holidays when meetings will be held on Tuesdays. All meetings will be held at the 201 Miller Road office unless other wise noted and the public is invited. For meeting dates and special events, check the Utilities Calendar at www.avonlakewater.org

City Law Director William J. Kerner swears in Board Members John G. Dzwonczyk, Paul R. Phillips and Charles D. Whitmer at the December Avon Lake Municipal Utilities Organizational Meeting.

The Avon Lake Board of Municipal Utilities approved an 10% increase in sewer rates to help finance capital improvements in the Water Pollution Control Center and the City’s sanitary and storm sewer infrastructure. The increase, which amounts to approximately $1.50 a quarter for the average Avon Lake resident, will go into effect with bills rendered on April 1, 2008.

Water Pollution Control Center improvements include completely renovating the administrative, laboratory and headworks sanitary sewer receiving areas, adding buildings for a backup sludge press and raw activated sludge pump, a blower upgrade, and expanding the sludge monofill.

Infrastructure improvements include adding two sanitary sewer pumps at the Center Road Pump Station, separating the combined sewers in Moore and Jaycox Roads and Curtis Drive next year, and replacing an aged hydraulic sewer cleaner for the Utilities Distribution and Collection Division.

Board Chairman Chuck Whitmer said, “These capital improvements must be satisfied now in order to fulfill future obligations for modern wastewater treatment within our service area. And growing the business is the best way to pay for them. It limits the need for frequent rate increases and helps keep our sewer rates low.”