June 23, 2014 - Fort Wayne City Utilities is moving into the next phase of efforts to improve our sewer system, protect our neighborhoods, and reduce sewer overflow into our rivers.  Our efforts in the 18-year Consent Decree and Long Term Control Plan are already having positive impacts on our community. The plan is creating economic development opportunities and will have far-reaching, quality of life enhancements for generations to come.  The next phase will continue that positive momentum and move the City closer to compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements. By working together and making wise investments, we are winning the future.

How we got here - Consent Decree

The City is under court order to greatly reduce the number of combined sewer overflows going to our rivers, reduce sewage that backs up into homes during wet weather events, eliminate sanitary sewer overflows, and operate and maintain the sewer system’s reliability through continued repair and rehabilitation.  Negotiations with the United States Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency went on for more than 10 years before an agreement was reached in late 2007.  The agreement is attended to bring the City into compliance with the Clean Water Act.

When Fort Wayne’s combined sewer system was designed it was state-of-the-art.  Federal standards allowed sewers to overflow into the river when they were overloaded. But after World War II, more and more homes added indoor plumbing and, as the City grew, so did the amount of flow going into Fort Wayne’s sewers.

As our country became more environmentally conscious, laws and regulations changed and the combined sewer system was no longer an accepted practice.

The Consent Decree requires City Utilities to reduce the number of overflow events from the current average of 71 times a year.  The plan orders Fort Wayne to reduce those overflows to no more than an average of 4 on the St. Mary’s and Maumee and 1 on the St. Joseph.  The aggressive schedule requires a massive investment in system improvements over an 18-year period.

Clean Rivers Task Force

Realizing that the unfunded Federal mandate was going to require the community to fund the improvements, Mayor Henry formed the Clean Rivers Task Force in 2008. The group represented leaders from neighborhoods, businesses, education, health care and elected officials. Task Force members looked at a number of options -- such as property taxes, sales tax, income tax, Federal grants and rate adjustments -- to pay for the required improvements. In the end, the committee recognized that the sewer utility needed to look to rates, not taxes, for the revenue needed to make the improvements. 

City Utilities is a not for profit, municipally-owned utility that does not receive property tax dollars. 100% of the revenue collected goes back into system improvements and maintenance and operations.

First 6 Years Offers Protection: 2009-2014

The community has shown tremendous support for this effort, realizing that moving forward with these projects is not only a court ordered requirement, but the right thing to do.  Fort Wayne’s rivers are a valuable asset and that’s evident by the interest shown in the current riverfront study. Residents are paying close attention to the work being done by the Riverfront Development Taskforce. They are embracing our rivers and the opportunities they bring to quality of life in our community. 

While an 18-year Consent Decree plan can seem daunting, we are making progress to help the community realize the dreams our riverfronts can bring. After six years, we are a third of the way through the plan and have seen some tremendous benefits.

Upgrades at our water pollution control plant have allowed us to treat an additional 1 billion gallons of sewage a year over what we could treat in 2008.  That’s 1 Billion gallons of sewage that would have gone into our rivers without treatment, or into our streets or basements.

We have completed numerous neighborhood sewer separation projects that are helping to protect more than 6,500 homes from basement backups and street flooding.  In fact, in one neighborhood, Smith/Roosevelt, we have not had any basement backups since completing our separation project. 

In system maintenance, we are now lining more than 14 miles/70,000 feet of sewer pipe. That’s a significant cost savings of about 80 percent when compared to completely replacing a pipe.  These efforts are protecting nearly 6,000 homes from backups.

Moving Forward – 2015-2019

In the next five years, sewer separation projects are planned for the Lakeside area, State and Coliseum, the near northwest and south along the St. Mary’s.  These improvements -- coupled with large interceptors -- are key to helping us protect neighborhoods from street flooding and reducing basement back-ups.

Of course, the most attention and focus the community will be looking at in the next five years is the deep rock tunnel.  Engineering design for the tunnel will begin this year. And those contracts will go to the City Council for approval in the next few weeks.  The tunnel will be 5-miles long and stretch Foster Park, through downtown and to our water pollution control plant on Dwenger Avenue. It will be between 150 and 250 feet below the surface with a diameter of 12-16 feet.

This is the most important component in our efforts to meet the Federal mandates of the Consent Decree, as it will biggest impact on reducing sewer overflows.  Construction of the tunnel will begin in 2017.  It will be completed in 2023. 

Next Steps in Funding:

After searching for alternative funding sources to meet the Federal unfunded requirements, City Utilities will ask the City Council to move forward with a series of rate increases to support the next phase of improvements. The request will be introduced to Council next month. Again, City Utilities is a not for profit, municipally-owned utility that does not receive property tax dollars. An estimated 90 percent of the fees collected by City Utilities over the next five years will go into capital improvement projects -- construction improvements to the sewer system that will help us meet Federal unfunded mandates and avoid fines and further sanctions. The remaining 10 percent will go towards operations and maintenance costs.

When City Utilities entered into the Federal agreement, we told customers the mandates to reduce sewer overflows would increase rates annually from 2009 to 2025. Through efficient management and good bids, we were able to avoid an increase in 2014.  However, as we continue to move forward, meeting Federal mandates requires new investments that will help our community for generations to come.

Again, the Federal mandates required by the Consent Decree are unfunded and the requirements must be met at the local level, with no delays, no missed Federal deadlines, and completion of all items in the agreement by 2025.  Next month, City Utilities will introduce the sewer fee structure for the next 5 years. Fees for the typical customer, using 5,000 gallons of water, will increase by an annual monthly average of $3.44 per month, through 2019.  

Today's announcement reinforces our commitment to invest in the future, to invest in ourselves, to invest in our community.

The City remains committed to keeping our utility rates as affordable as possible, while maintaining superior quality utility service and meeting the requirements of federal mandates.

We have done our best to be cost conscious by being efficient and looking for ways to reduce expenses and save money.  Our bond rating is strong and that’s allowed us to save on interest rates.  Our efforts have allowed us to still meet the Federal schedule while not having a rate increase in 2014, even though it was projected early on. But now we have to do what’s necessary – continue to invest, continue to remove sewage from basements and streets, treat and keep as much of it away from our rivers, and keep our promises to the EPA and most importantly, to our community and our rivers.

Public Meetings

Two public meetings will take place next week to update customers about the Federal mandate and to discuss funding for neighborhood sewer system improvements coming in the next 5 years.

June 30, 2014 @ 6:30 p.m.

Omni Room in the basement of Citizens Square

200 East Berry Street (parking in lot north of the building)

July 2, 2014 @ 6:30 p.m.

McMillen Park Community Center

3900 Abbott Street (parking near entrance)