City utility deposit hike OK'd

CELINA - City council members on Monday night unanimously passed final reading of legislation to raise utility security deposits by 50 percent across the board.

City council took up the utility security deposit issue at the request of some landlords who have been forced to pay their tenants' unpaid bills. Also, the city is owed $280,000 in delinquent utility bills, city safety service director Tom Hitchcock pointed out at a previous utilities commitee meeting.

"I've run into a few people that were pretty adamant about the changes in this, and they are very happy that we have carried through with this," councilman June Scott said on Monday night.

Non-owner deposits for utility services are $120 for electricity, $40 for water and $40 for sewer. Deposits are used to cover non-payment for services. They have not been changed since at least 2004, according to councilman Mike Sovinski.

Hitchcock said the average monthly utility bill among renters is $270.

Utility security deposits will increase to $180 for electricity, $60 for water and $60 for sewer, after councilors passed final reading of the legislation.

No one from the public addressed council members about the legislation during the comment portion of the meeting.

Councilors also passed final reading of legislation authorizing mayor Jeff Hazel to enter into an agreement with Mercer County commissioners Greg Homan, Rick Muhlenkamp and Jerry Laffin for indigent defense services for those charged with violating city laws who cannot afford an attorney.

Following
state law, commissioners have a program in which the city pays the county for attorneys assigned to qualifying indigent defendants.

However, the city is liable for indigent defense services for cases involving violations of city ordinances, according to city law director George Moore. Celina police officers routinely issue citations for infractions of Ohio Revised Code rather than for city ordinances.

In other news, Hazel revealed that city officials received officiation notification that the Ohio Public Works Commission will award Celina a $200,000 grant to go toward a water line replacement on West Market Street from Brandon Avenue to Main Street. The project is estimated to cost $465,000. The project will be bid out later this year. It will start sometime after July 1, Hazel told the newspaper.

"That's going to take a lot of work to get that done because it's such a busy street," he said.

The water line replacement will be completed in anticipation of the Ohio Department of Transportation-led reconstruction of West Market Street in 2020.

The project is estimated to cost $1.4 million. ODOT's Small Cities Program will pick up 80 percent of the cost, according to Hazel.

The section to be reconstructed, which ODOT designates as County Route 144, is "pretty much" from Main Street to the west edge of Mercer Landmark, Hitchcock previously pointed out.