Having successfully amended Waterville’s city charter to forbid construction of natural-gas transmission lines within its limits, local opponents of the proposed NEXUS pipeline now must wait to see whether that amendment has any legal power.
Phil Dombey, Waterville’s law director, told those at a city council meeting Monday night that the charter amendment voters approved last week will take effect once the Lucas County Board of Elections certifies the vote.
“I’d like to tell you what comes next, but nobody knows the future,” Mr. Dombey said.
The law director said he had rejected two letters from Houston-based Spectra Energy, the parent company of NEXUS, and said the charter as amended would not permit him to authorize any pipeline infrastructure.
Spectra has been notified of the charter change, and the city now will wait for NEXUS’ next action.
NEXUS has maintained that Waterville has no jurisdiction over the pipeline proposed to go through the city and with a compressor station in nearby Waterville Township that wouldn’t be affected by the city charter in any case.
Separately, city council unanimously authorized hiring additional fire department staff and approved continued construction at the Browning Masonic Community and changes in municipal utility rates.
Waterville will add about $90,000 to its budget to pay for two part-time employees 24 hours a day. Currently, two part-timers are only scheduled from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
Browning Masonic is in the midst of the first phase of villa construction, building 14 single-family dwellings for adults older than 55 on its campus off South River Road near Waterville’s southern edge. With completion scheduled for March, all 14 villas have been reserved.
The nonprofit received council approval to build up to an additional 20 villas, which marketing director Tara Lloyd said will be built as the market demands.
The land is zoned agricultural, so a special-use permit governing the facility had to be amended to allow for additional construction.
The independent living homes are designed for residents to age in place, she said.
“There’s no steps to impede you,” Ms. Lloyd said.
One additional maintenance employee will be hired, and additional home health-care services will be provided through partners. The first of the villas will be moved into at the end of the month.
Council also authorized changes to the city’s water and sewer rates that will not affect most residents substantially.
Water consumption rates will increase 2 percent for 2017 and 2018, and sewer consumption rates will increase by 4.75 percent annually from 2017 through 2020. But those increases will be offset by annual 10 percent decreases in the sewer capital charge next year through 2020. As a result, the typical Waterville resident’s monthly bill will decrease next year by 6 cents, from $73.93 to $73.87.
Contact Zack Lemon at: zlemon@theblade.com, 419-724-6282, or on Twitter @zack_lemon.
First Published November 15, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
