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Kalamazoo Water Rates Could Rise in 2018

Sehvilla Mann
/
WMUK

Monthly bill rise by $2.75 a month for city residents and $1.60 a month for residents outside the city.

The city also discussed the future of its one-way streets.

City of Kalamazoo water customers might see their rates go up next year. Under a proposal from city staff, a typical in-city household would see its monthly bill rise by $2.75 a month. Water users outside the city, who pay more overall, would see a more modest increase of $1.60 a month.

The city says it’s preparing for water system upgrades that it expects will cost hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few decades. Public Services Director James Baker says iron pipes laid in the 1930s won’t last much past their hundredth birthday, and they’re not the only things that need work.

“The system’s been around since 1880s and we’ve got the pipe network that’s downtown, all that stuff will need to be replaced,” he says.

Baker says Kalamazoo has aggressively stepped up removals of lead service lines, with money from the city’s donor-funded Foundation for Excellence. City Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposed rate increase for 2018 on January 16.

One-way streets

The City of Kalamazoo says it might regain control of some major one-way streets in 2018. On Monday, City Manager Jim Ritsema said that the Michigan Department of Transportation is “very interested” in handing those streets back over to Kalamazoo. MDOT has long managed some of the downtown’s one-way roads. Local control would make it possible to convert those streets to two-way.

City Planner Rebekah Kik says that that could have a positive, calming effect on traffic. She says Kalamazoo’s understanding of two-way street planning has improved in recent years.

“Because we aren’t just looking at vehicles. We’re looking at pedestrians, we’re looking at non-motorized transportation, we’re looking at equity issues, we’re looking at connectivity to our neighborhoods as well,” she said.

The city says some grants might be available to help cover the cost if Kalamazoo does pursue one-way street conversion.

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
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