Monday, October 19, 2015
YOUNGSTOWN
City council will work with Mayor John A. McNally to set a town hall meeting about using water funds to pay for home demolitions.
That was the consensus from a council-as-a-while committee meeting Monday afternoon that lasted about an hour. Council members talked about questions they had received about the program from residents.
Finance Director David Bozanich addressed eight questions from Councilwoman Annie Gillam, D-1st, to start the meeting. From there, council members exchanged ideas and answered questions but many talked about the need for a town hall meeting to explain how the program would work.
There would be a 68-percent sanitary rate increase along with a resolution to reduce water rates by 30 percent Dec. 1. City officials have said that the rise in sanitary and the decrease in water would balance out for no increase to city residents — or just a few dollars extra.
Gillam argued that even an increase in water rates for senior citizens of $1 to $2 means a lot on a fixed income.
Read more in Tuesday's Vindicator.