Community Corner
After Rate-Hike Flap, Mill Creek Water Reclamation District Has New Website
A government body just became a little more open and easy to find, following a 32 percent rate increase and with more increases likely to come.
It's still a little bare-boned, but the Mill Creek Water Reclamation District has its own website for the first time.
The website was established following a 32 percent rate increase that was approved on Jan. 17 and will go into effect on Feb. 1. The Water Reclamation District Board had proposed a 38 percent increase, but pulled back after residents protested.
Because there had not been many rate hikes over the years, the MCWRD went about its business in comparative anonymity for a taxing body for the two decades it had been in existence.
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The board consists of three members appointed by the Kane County Board chairman. They are entrusted in overseeing the water and sewer service for the city-sized Mill Creek subdivision located west of Geneva and Batavia.
The water and sewer services at Mill Creek are handled by Sheaffer & Rolland, the original engineer. Shaeffer & Rolland is now in the middle of a five-year contract, said Donald "DJ" Tegeler, president of the MCWRD.
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During rate-hike discussions, residents asked for more communication from the board.
"I personally spoke with the MCWRD president after the last meeting and reinforced the fact that it doesn't take three months to build a basic website in order to communicate district info to our community," said Mill Creek resident Kevin Reszel in an e-mail to other residents. "Well, our collective efforts have paid off! A small victory, but a victory just the same."
The new MCWRD website is at http://www.millcreekwrd.com.
And it's handy to have. Residents can already pay bills online, there is a phone number for after-hour emergencies (630-675-9963) and for billing questions to the district's billing company, AABS (800-678-5508).
It also shows board meeting minutes and a schedule of upcoming meetings. Generally, the board meets at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the SSA office in Mill Creek, 39W250 Herrington Boulevard, Suite R-1.
On the new website, residents can find the 2011 Rate Study that led to the increase, as well as a letter from Tegeler that explains the rate increases. The rates are as follows:
$7.90 per 1,000 gallons
$12 Meter Service Charge per billing cycle
$6.75 Infrastructure Fee per billing cycle
In addition, a monthly depreciation reserve charge will be charged to all users of the district's system in an amount equal to $8 per unit through the Jan. 31, 2013 billing period.
"The board has further placed on itself the obligation to review rates on a yearly basis," Tegeler says in the letter to residents. "This has not always been done in the past and why we find ourselves in the dire financial condition that currently exists."
