Wellington City Hall was filled to the brim on Wednesday, Feb. 12, for the city’s biweekly council meeting. On the agenda causing the overflow crowd was a public hearing for a potential change in the city’s secondary water rates. 

Opening the hearing, Mayor Jack Clark explained the purpose of the hearing: ” Most of you are here for the water rate increase for Hillcrest  that does affect a few houses on Old Wellington Road. This has been going on for the last three months; that’s why we’re holding the public hearing. We want to ensure everybody understands and tries to figure out what we’re doing.”

The purpose behind the change is tied to the cost of water pump operation. In 2023, it will cost $6000 a year to run a pump, a number that has jumped to $ 8000 currently. Another financial issue the city runs into is pump repairs, which happen on average every five years and costs $5000.

Residents’ main concern was the disproportionate effect it had on residents on Old Wellington Road, who, under the current language of the ordinance, would be some of the few residents of the city to feel the increase. Many voiced that if a change is to be made, it should be for the entire city.

“If we’re going to start separating people that have to pay for certain things, you’re opening up a whole lot of issues for a whole lot of people, right?” shared one concerned citizen,” I taught school, and when we have a behavior issue at the school. We come up with a behavior plan as a faculty and staff. And that is not just for one set of kids, right? So, we’re teaching kids. At a young age, this applies to everybody.”

Council member Barney Zauss expressed hesitancy about moving forward with the plan, explaining that he wasn’t ready to decide on the matter after considering both sides of the argument. Zauss moved to table the issue so it could be further examined by the council. The motion was seconded, and the item returned to the work stages.

“I wish more of you had come forward over the last three months of us discussing this,” said the Mayor, prompting a harsh audience reaction. The consensus was that they did not know when the city council meetings were held.

Council member Bryan Thayn provided the public with the Utah Public Notice website, which allows citizens to receive agendas and notifications of upcoming meetings. 

A full guide on how to utilize this website can be found here.