TheBurg

news stoRmWateR Fee DeBateD Capital Region Water took its case for a stormwater fee to Harrisburg City Council last month, explaining how and why the utility expects to implement the new fee starting Jan. 1. At the beginning of a 2½-hour meeting, Charlotte Katzenmoyer, CEO of Capital Region Water (CRW), explained the proposed fee to council members, which she said was necessary to pay some of the cost of improving the city's obsolete sewer infrastructure. "We have to upgrade our system and reduce stormwater flows," she said. "ere is a lot of deferred maintenance, so we have a lot of catching up to do." In June, the CRW board launched a process that may culminate with a separate stormwater fee at the beginning of 2020. Under the plan, most residential customers would pay $74 a year, or $6.15 with each monthly bill, though larger residential and commercial property owners would pay more, depending on the amount of impervious surface on their land. Currently, stormwater costs are included in the wastewater portion of a customer's monthly bill. CRW officials have said that, with a separate stormwater fee, wastewater rates should rise more slowly than they have in recent years. CRW is under a partial consent agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce the flow of pollution into area waterways. Much of the problem is due to the city's obsolete combined sewer system, which discharges untreated wastewater into streams and the Susquehanna River during moderate and heavy rainfalls. To help address the issue, CRW plans to spend $315 million to upgrade the sewer system and implement green infrastructure over the next 20 years. CRW officials told council members that the stormwater fee, which will raise $5.2 million a year under the proposed rate structure, was a more equitable way to pay for system upgrades than through the wastewater portion of the bill, as owners with more impervious surfaces on their properties would pay a greater amount. Following CRW's presentation, Mayor Eric Papenfuse criticized CRW for proposing a stormwater fee absent a final agreement with the EPA. He said that the proposed fee might not cover the improvements mandated by the federal environmental agency. "We're spending $315 million on a plan because that's what we can afford, but it doesn't solve the problem," Papenfuse said. "If we want to get to 95-percent compliance, or whatever the EPA mandates, we don't have a plan that works for us, by your own admission." Katzenmoyer said that the $315 million investment would reduce wastewater flows into the Susquehanna River by 82 percent. She projected a total cost of $600 million to be in full compliance, with a timeframe of 65 years to achieve that. CRW board Chairman Marc Kurowski said that discussions with the EPA indicate that the federal agency is aware that Harrisburg is a relatively poor city and needs a lengthy time period to achieve a 95-percent compliance rate. He also said that CRW didn't want to wait for a final agreement with the EPA due to years of deferred maintenance to the system. "To wait to implement the fee until the consent decree says this is what you need to do, it's too late," he said. Papenfuse further said that he believes that too much of the burden will fall on Harrisburg's lower-income residents, especially renters, since landlords presumably would pass on the fee to their tenants. Katzenmoyer responded that CRW plans to offer larger property owners, such as apartment building owners, credits for reducing the amount of impervious surfaces on their land, which could lower their overall burden. Hanging over the meeting was a notice that the city issued in late July asking private water companies to respond to a request for information, which led to interviews with four respondents. Papenfuse has repeatedly stated that the meetings are "preliminary" and don't mean that the city intends to sell the water/sewer system. polling places change Many Harrisburg voters will need to cast their ballots in a new polling place this month, as Dauphin County has made numerous location changes to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. For the Nov. 5 general election, voters in seven Harrisburg polling stations will have new locations, said Gerald Feaser, director of the county's Bureau of Elections and Voter Registration. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice surveyed a portion of the county's polling stations, finding "many" to be difficult to access for people with disabilities. en, last year, the county and the department reached an agreement meant to increase accessibility. As a result, the following polling stations are changing: Harrisburg 1-1 Old: Comfort Inn/Passage to India, 525 S. Front St. New: UPMC Pinnacle/Life Team Facility, 1000 Paxton St. Harrisburg 4 Old: St. Michael Evangelical Lutheran Church, 118 State St. New: MLK Jr. City Government Building, 10 N. 2nd St. Harrisburg 7-2 Old: Capital Presbyterian Church, 1401 Cumberland St. New: Downey Elementary School, 1313 Monroe St. Harrisburg 9-4 Old: Bellevue Community Center, Briarcliff & Oakwood Rds. New: John Harris High School Field House, 2451 Market St. Harrisburg 10-1 Old: Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 2121 N. 3rd St. New: Goodwin Memorial Baptist Church, Family Life Center, 2430 N. 3rd St. Harrisburg 10-3 Old: Hadee Mosque, 245 Division St. New: Scottish Rite Cathedral, 2701 N. 3rd St. Harrisburg 10-4 Old: Teamsters Local #776, 2552 Jefferson St. New: Scottish Rite Cathedral, 2701 N. 3rd St. In addition, for Harrisburg 6 (Susquehanna Art Museum) and Harrisburg 9-3 (Edison Village), the building will remain the same, but the polling location in the building will change. council ReJects housing DiRectoR choice Harrisburg City Council last month rejected a top administration appointment, with the mayor stating that the decision imperils key city housing programs. By a 4-2 vote, council turned down the appointment of Franchon Dickinson as the city's new director of building and housing, the second time this year council members had refused to confirm her appointment. Following the vote, Dickinson, who was serving as interim department director, resigned her job with the city. Mayor Eric Papenfuse railed against the vote, saying that Dickinson's departure endangers two critical housing programs— the annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and the city's Lead Hazard Reduction Program. "ere is no way this can be understood as anything other than pure dysfunction on the part of City Council," he said, following the meeting. Council members Ben Allatt, Ausha Green, Danielle Bowers and Dave Madsen voted against the appointment, while council President Wanda Williams and Councilman Westburn Majors voted in favor. Councilwoman Shamaine Daniels was absent from the meeting. In June, council voted 4-3 against the appointment. Just hours earlier, Dickinson had hosted a city hall ceremony, in which she accepted a check for $5.6 million from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to continue the city's lead abatement program for five years. Papenfuse said that Dickinson was fundamental in securing both CDBG funds and the federal lead abatement grant and that, without her leadership, both programs were at risk. "is puts our HUD funding in jeopardy," he said. pennDot may consiDeR i-83 changes e PA Department of Transportation might consider making changes to its design for the widening of I-83 that would reduce the project's impact on the community, Harrisburg's mayor said last month. At a City Council legislative session, Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that PennDOT officials seemed receptive to the preliminary findings of the city's transportation consultants, Kittelson & Associates, during a Sept. 16 meeting. "It was a robust discussion of Kittelson's findings," Papenfuse told council members. In June, the city hired the company for $72,500 to conduct a traffic and community impact study of the commonwealth's proposal to double the number of lanes running through the city. e study analyzes PennDOT's widening plan, which envisions as many as 12 lanes and new interchanges, and is determining whether alternatives exist to reduce the project's footprint and the impact on the community. Kittelson is expected to release its final report in December, but shared its preliminary findings during the September meeting with PennDOT, Papenfuse said. Kittelson believes that the footprint of the project can be reduced to lessen the impact on numerous homes and businesses in south Harrisburg threatened by the expansion, and PennDOT seemed receptive to the firm's ideas, the mayor said. City Engineer Wayne Martin later explained that Kittelson is recommending reducing the size of the project from 12 to 10 lanes by eliminating two collector/distributor lanes, which are lanes that parallel and connect to the main travel lanes. Other recommendations include redesigning the proposed 19th Street and Paxton Street ramps to further reduce the impact on the neighborhood. "PennDOT is committed to doing what it can to minimize the footprint," Papenfuse said. "It seems encouraging at this point." haRRisBuRg Finances staBle e first six months of Harrisburg's financials are in the books, and what's the verdict? Steady as she goes, according to the city's finance and budget officials, who gave an update last month to City Council. City Budget Manager Erika Regalado said that, for the first two quarters of 2019, revenues came in about on budget. Property tax revenue was flat, but local income taxes came in stronger than expected, indicating a robust local employment picture. "e economy is steady, and it's growing, and unemployment is low," she said. Her presentation echoed the one that Bruce Weber, director of the city's Bureau of Financial Management, offered a week earlier to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, a state- appointed body tasked with approving a five-year financial plan for the city. Weber said that he expected current trends to continue through the rest of the year. e city's 2019 budget totals nearly $110 million, which includes a $70.8 million general fund, a $20.6 million neighborhood services fund and a $9.8 million debt service fund.

• Cover