June 1 to bring several changes for Town of Haxtun

Several changes are coming as of June 1 for the Town of Haxtun. In addition to a new face at the Town Hall, residents will see a rate increase in sanitation and electric rates. Council members voted on the rate increases last month, but officially passed resolutions to do so this month, making the change effective June 1st.

Haxtun Town Clerk Karie Wilson submitted her letter of resignation to members of the Town Council in February. In preparation for her departure after 24 years in her role at the Town Hall, council members voted to name Deputy Clerk Kelsey Harms the new Clerk/Treasurer on June 1, the effective date of Wilson’s retirement. The move left a vacancy with the Town of Haxtun for a deputy clerk.

After publishing the open position and interviews over the past several weeks, the position was offered to and accepted by Sherri Speaker, soon to be Wagoner. Speaker and her fiancé, Vernon Wagoner, are planning an upcoming wedding next month.

Speaker’s first day with the Town of Haxtun was Monday, May 2. She will train with both Harms and Wilson until Wilson’s retirement at the end of the month.

The Town of Haxtun plans to honor Wilson with a retirement open house at the Town Hall on June 1. Watch future editions of the Herald for additional information on the open house in her honor.

In addition the change in personnel at Town Hall, June 1 will also mark the date residents begin to see a change in rates in both the sanitation and electric departments. Over the past few months, council members have discussed the need for increases with Superintendent Ron Carpenter.

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, which went into effect last month. 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.

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.

Last month, council members agreed to raise electric rates by $3 on the base as well as a five percent rate increase. That means, residents will have a base rate of $18.50 along with 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.

In last month’s meeting, 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.

In the most recent Town Council meeting, on May 2, council members made the increase rates official in passing necessary resolutions and ordinances relating to such. Once published, the new rates will go into effect, which is set of for June 1.

In other business the Council:

• Heard an annual report from Phillips County Economic Development Director Trisha Herman;

• Received and approved the 2021 audit report from Scott Szabo. Szabo gave the Town a good standing review from his audit of last year’s financials;

• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Colorado Department of Revenue updating the change from Wilson to Harms as Town Clerk;

• Passed a resolution to add Speaker and Harms to necessary documents and where needed for authorized signatures on bank accounts;

• Approved a resolution to move forward with annexation from West Plains Properties, LLC. The property includes the area was of the Dollar General along Highway 6;

• The following building permits were approved: Daryl Streich, 421 North Colorado Avenue to repair a garage roof; Caleb Andersen, 519 West Second Street for a re-roof; Bonita Derring-Benson, 630 Prospect Circle for an addition; Tom Bullard, Lot 5-6 of Block 6 for a new stick built home; Sean and Marsha Cody, 141 North Colorado Avenue for sprinklers; Michael Davis, 442 North Walker Avenue for a deck; Steven Wright, 205 South Washington Avenue for a re-roof; Wilson Properties, 712 Burlington Avenue for underground electric; Deb Dickerson, 426 East Raymond Street for new cement; and Tom and Judy Gramowski, 305 North Washington Avenue for a fence.