N E W S L E T T E R - maumee.org

1 Spring 2018 Maumee City Municipal Building: 400 Conant Street Maumee, OH 43537 E W S L E T T E RMAYOR S MESSAGEU nderstanding The Future Of Your WaterBy: Richard H. Carr, Maumee MayorFellow Maumee Residents and BusinessOwners:For almost all of us, when it comes toour water we are concerned about threeissues: 1) Does it come out of the faucetwhen we turn it on; 2) Does it taste good,and 3) What does it cost? It is the last pointthat the City of Maumee has been address-ing over the last three years, and the deci-sions to be made in the immediate futurewill impact our residents and businesses February 2026, our long-term con-tract to purchase water from the City ofToledo expires.

2 Presently, we pay the City ofToledo less for our water than any othersuburban community. If we do nothing, it isanticipated that in March of 2026 yourwater bill will be more than triple what it istoday, based upon the cost the City ofSylvania presently pays. As Toledo hasincreased its rates every year, the increase inyour water s cost in 2026 could be far moresubstantial than three times its year 2026 seems a long time away; itis not! For the City of Maumee to obtain anew water provider, it would require sub-stantial changes to our system, includingrunning lines into our community at a sig-nificant cost.

3 This requires that we deter-mine how we are going to proceed at thistime, a process we have been working on forthe last three may have read or heard that theCity of Maumee, along with Toledo;Sylvania; Perrysburg; Whitehouse; LucasCounty; Monroe, Mich.; Fulton Countyand Northwest Water, signed aMemorandum of Understanding to createthe Toledo Area Water Authority( TAWA ). The agreement provides for asystem with phased-in water rate increasesover an eight-year period for Maumee,resulting in equal rates for all communities,transfer of ownership of the land and facili-ties currently owned by the City of Toledoto the new system through a lease/purchaseagreement, and control of the TAWA Boardin a manner that gives Toledo/LucasCounty three appointees and the remainingpartners four appointments.

4 It also providesfor subsidies for low-income users andabatement of lead in lines primarily in theCity of Toledo, among many other Maumee s residents and businesses,water lines would continue to be serviced byour own City of Maumee Water Division semployees, who do a tremendous job for Memorandum of Understanding wasthe result of many hours of negotiations,and I believe it is a fair agreement. However,we still must determine if it is in the besteconomic interests of our residents that end, you also may have read thatthe City of Maumee has also been meetingand is continuing to meet with BowlingGreen, Perrysburg and Northwest Water topossibly obtain our water from a sourceother than TAWA.

5 Why? First, every gov-erning body would have to approve theTAWA agreement for it to become a realityand we cannot simply presume that willhappen. Second, we need to make certainMaumee examines every alternative beforemaking an informed decision on how toproceed. The City of Toledo is obligated tomake $500 million in mandated repairs andimprovements to its existing facilities, thefinancial obligation of which TAWA wouldassume. This amount is factored in to deter-mine future water rates.

6 There now is a third concern. OnFebruary 15th, I attended a special meetingon the TAWA Memorandum ofUnderstanding to be informed by the Cityof Toledo that two different groups havestated they will file a referendum if the Cityof Toledo agrees to relinquish ownership ofits facility and that Toledo s City Councilmay not approve the Memorandum ofUnderstanding. Toledo now anticipates sub-mitting the issue of approval of theMemorandum of Understanding to itscouncil in September, and if approved, willsubmit the issue of transfer of ownership toits voters in an election in November.

7 Thisuncertainty is not a total surprise, which iswhy meetings with our Wood Countyneighbors were scheduled prior to learningof Toledo s plans. Those meetings have con-tinued and are are also now looking at the possibil-ity of another alternative, proceeding withthe regional water system with the City ofToledo not included. The possibility existsthat we can work with Sylvania; Monroe,Mich.; and possibly the Lucas CountyCommissioners to establish a new has never been my greatestvirtue, and believe me, the past severalmonths have tested my patience manytimes.

8 The reality is that we cannot bepatient; we need to act responsibly and time-ly to protect our residents and service director, finance director,law director and city administrator havebecome ever more involved in the discus-sions of potential alternatives for our CityCouncil to be able to make a very ultimate decision council makes willbe, and this is not an overstatement, themost critical one made by Maumee CityCouncil in many, many years.

9 As it willimpact our residents for generations. Ourrates will inevitably increase, as we havesuch a good existing contract; but we mustbe in a position that will allow us to becomepart of the most economically prudent sys-tem for our residents and water from the City of Toledo asis now done through what is basically amonopoly on water held by the City ofToledo will no longer exist in the meantime, your water will comeon when you turn on your faucet and it willtaste good.

10 If only the cost was as easy tocontrol!City Takes Pride In Tree ProgramStreet trees are important in Maumee. Wehave well over 10,000 in the city. Not only dotrees help beautify the city, but they are alsoresponsible for helping to clean the air thatwe breathe. The City of Maumee isproud of its many and variedstreet trees and its multi-year status as a TreeCity USA throughThe NationalArbor DayFoundation andhopes that youappreciate thetrees h eDepartment ofPublic Service isresponsible for alltrees in the publicright of way.