Slight increase in water, sewage rates approved by Dublin City Council

Dublin City Council members approved amending the water and sewer rates for the upcoming fiscal year because of the increasing costs to operate the city’s water system.

“This will effectively increase the water and sewer rates by 20 cents per thousand gallons,” said Dublin City Manager Josh Powell. “The base rate will go up about 40 cents on both of those and that includes the first 2,000 gallons of consumption for both water and sewer and then every additional thousand gallons consumed thereafter would be an additional 20 cents per gallon.”

According to information given to council members, the minimal bill to a city residential customer with a 3/4 meter will go up from $24.80 to $25.60 a month. The same residential customer with 9,000 gallons of usage will see it go from $94.45 a month to $97.90 a month.

In other meeting news:

– The meeting began with Dublin Juvenile Judge Penny Snipes swearing in the 2025-2026 youth council members. The following are members of that council: Arryanna Loyd (mayor, 11th grader at West Laurens High School); Aiyanna Boston (mayor pro tem, 10th grader at Dublin High School); Morgan Moore (city manager, 12th grader at WLHS); Olivia Selman (city clerk, 12th grader at WLHS); Alyce Solomon (assistant city clerk, 10th grader at DHS); Jemaryon Chapman (city planner, 12th grader at East Laurens High School); Melinda Watson (historian, 11th grader at ELHS); Kelis Lawrence (historian, 10th grader at DHS); Alen Myers (IT, ninth grader at DHS); Sydney Wyatt (ward 1, 9th grader at WLHS); Makaela Bridges (ward 2, 10th grader at DHS); Graham Forth (ward 3, 10th grader at Trinity Christian School); Roland Manahan (ward 4, 12th grader at WLHS); John Brantley (at large, 10th grader at TCS); Ella Selman (at large, 10th grader at TCS); Ryanna Fountain (at large, 11th grader at WLHS); Taylor Turnley (at large, 11th grader at DHS); Chloe Rozier (at larger, 10th grader at TCS) and Garrett Collier (at large, 10th grader at TCS).

“This is the closest you can get to things that affect your day-to-day life,” Powell said. “You can’t walk up to the President of the United States and complain about something, but you can walk up to (the mayor) and talk about things or any of (the city council members) and tell them about your concerns.”

– The council approved purchase of a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado flatbed truck for the natural gas department from Hardy Chevrolet for $78,245.64. 

– The council heard the first reading of an ordinance to amend mayor and council compensation. The recommended rate for the mayor’s compensation would increase from $900 a month to $1,500 while council’s would increase from $700 a month to $1,200 a month. Powell said 2007 was the last time the council and mayor’s compensation was adjusted.

“In looking at some other municipalities and other local governments and their compensation packages for their elected officials, this was in line with that,” Powell said.

These changes will be advertised for three consecutive weeks in The Courier Herald. The final vote on this will follow a public hearing on Thursday, July 3 at 5:30 p.m.

“If it is approved it will not take effect until after the seating of the next elected council, which will take place in January of 2026,” Powell said.

– The council approved its Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which will be $90,039,104. 

– The council approved an engagement letter with Nichols, Cauley & Associates, LLC for the FY25 audit.

– The council approved a fee proposal for engineering design service for generator locations with Toland Mizell Molner, LLC. The city accepted the terms and conditions for the generators they submitted for after Hurricane Michael. The installation of these 14 generators will power different components of the city’s water utility system at 15 locations. The field investigation and design cost will be $153,000 while the construction administration fee will be $38,250.

– The council approved terms of an intergovernmental agreement with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to provide appropriated additional funds for outdoor recreational facilities at Springdale Park. The city had been presented with the intergovernmental agreement with DNR for an additional $275,000 grant for Springdale Park improvements.