The Western Lake Superior Sanitary District will hold a public hearing at 4 p.m. Monday for the district's annual solid waste fees on residents' property tax bill and garbage bills.
Another hearing at the same time will take public testimony on the WLSSD plan to impose a new ordinance on local governments demanding they meet standards for reducing the amount of rainwater that seeps into sewer lines, causing overflows into the environment.
Cities such as Duluth, Cloquet, Carlton, Proctor and Hermantown and adjoining townships would be required to submit plans for how they will keep rainwater out of the sewage system to prevent overflows.
The ordinance also will allow the WLSSD to take action, including imposing penalties, against municipalities that violate those goals. Fines could range from $1,000 to $8,000.
WLSSD officials have said the ordinance is being pushed by federal regulators as part of the ongoing settlement agreement over Duluth's repeated sewage overflows during heavy rains.
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The WLSSD board is expected to vote on the ordinance at its Oct. 6 meeting.
Also Monday, the WLSSD proposes setting its annual solid waste fee imposed on all residents of the district -- parts of St. Louis and Carlton counties -- at a flat $18 for 2009, the same amount charged last year. The fee is $9 for seasonal property.
The district also will impose fees collected by garbage haulers that are included as a line item on garbage bills. The 2009 fee will be 28 cents per pickup, usually weekly, for a 32-gallon can, also unchanged from 2008. That adds about $32 a year to each consumer's garbage bill.
The extra fees are used to pay for WLSSD's solid waste-related services.
The WLSSD board is slated to take action on the fees at the regular board meeting that night.
