The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Haxtun residents will soon see a rate increase on the electric and sanitation portions of their Town bills. Council members voted to increase rates in those two departments during a Monday, April 4 meeting at the Haxtun Community Center. News of the possible increase came a month prior when Superintendent Ron Carpenter shared information of rate increases from the Town’s power suppliers.

According to Carpenter, the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska and the Western Area Power Administration both increased their rates this year and to the Town of Haxtun, that means a hike of $32,000, beginning April 1. MEAN is the organization that supplies the Town of Haxtun with electricity and WAPA is the organization that transmits the power to Haxtun.

Additionally, WAPA recently shared news of an anticipated $11,000 rate increase in 2023, just a short eight months away. If the second increase from WAPA begins next year, the Town of Haxtun will have seen rate hikes in the electric department of nearly $43,000 in just a year’s worth of time.

“No one wants to raise rates,” Carpenter told council members last week. “But it’s being hammered down to us.” Carpenter said the last time the Town of Haxtun increased electrical rates was in 2015. The latest increase in any of the Town’s utility departments came in 2018 when Haxtun increased water rates to help offset necessary costs associated with a major project with the water tower.

After much discussion, council members agreed to raise electric rates by $3 on the base as well as a five percent rate increase. That means, residents will now pay a base rate of $18.50 and see a five percent increase in electric rates. According to information provided by Carpenter, the increase in just the base rate is projected to bring in an additional $21,420 in revenue but still does not cover the $32,000 increase the Town saw in rates from WAPA and MEAN just this month.

Council members also discussed figures in the sanitation department. The sanitation department, Carpenter said, has not seen an increase in rates for seven years. Those rates were also changed, along with electric, in 2015.

While discussing figures related to sanitation fees, Carpenter noted that since the latest increase in that department, fuel costs have more than doubled, and most recently, fuel costs have skyrocketed. The Council agreed to increase sanitation rates by $3; for a residential dumpster that means a total of $28 per month.

The Town of Haxtun sanitation department includes 451 residential, 20 small commercial, 17 large commercial and four out of town stops.

“We have to stay on top of this,” Council Member Ryan Horton said while discussing rates and increases. “We can’t go another seven years.”

At the start of the regular April meeting, council members heard from board members from the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce and Interim Executive Director Kelcie Yockey.

Kindra Plumb, Chamber Secretary, said the Chamber Board has seen a fair amount of turn over since the onset of the COVID pandemic which has made things difficult for the organization. Plumb said that with the resignation of the former director, who moved out of town, along with new faces on the Board, the Chamber is in a rebuilding phase.

“We are sort of lost and treading water,” Plumb said. “That is why we are here tonight.” She asked the Town Council for some clarification about how the Chamber director’s salary is handled, insurance specifics and details on how the Chamber went from a volunteer organization to having a part-time paid director.

Plumb said the goal of the current Board is to rebuild and re-establish to move forward in a positive direction while focusing on three main objectives including, in order, business, youth and events.

The Town of Haxtun runs the Chamber director salary position through their bookkeeping software and in turn bills the Chamber for those fees. That practice has been in place since hiring the first part-time director in 2015. The Chamber is also covered under the Town insurance policies.

Several Chamber board members, including Debby McBride, expressed concern with volunteers and committees, specifically the Corn Festival committee. Hopes are to meet with those who have served on Chamber committees in the past to gain a better understanding of how and why things work.

“We want to be positive and be very transparent,” Plumb said in this rebuilding phase of the Chamber organization.

Mayor Brandon Biesemeier gave his support to the Chamber saying the Town Council appreciates the open form of communication. “We are more than supportive of what you’re trying to do,” he added.

In other business the Council:

• Agreed to offer payment plans for those included in the curb and gutter replacement program as part of the 2022 street project;

• Approved a two percent increase with CEBT, the Town’s employee health insurance company. The Council also approved renewal of the MASA Emergency Travel insurance;

• Updated the personnel policy to allow non-emergency employees to live within a 10-mile radius of Haxtun;

• Agreed to give a $1,000 donation from Colorado Highlands Wind to the Little Sprouts Learning Center;

• Discussed changes to the designated truck routes on city streets.