The Ketchikan City Council will vote on a motion to change the way in which businesses are charged for their water at its regular meeting tomorrow.
City Manager Karl Amylon says in a report prepared for the council that a change to a metered system of water charging by Ketchikan Public Utilities is not necessary for residential customers. He notes, however, that the current rate structure for commercial customers – a combination of a flat rate and a scale for things such as size of the business – is “inefficient and dysfunctional” and would benefit by a switch to meters.
According to Amylon, the price tag for the switch would cost more than $2 million initially for the purchase and installation of the meters. The city would also pay roughly $122,000 annually for their operation.
Also tomorrow night the city will vote to award a contract assessing the restoration of the downtown Yates building to Historic Ketchikan.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Council chambers. Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting.
