With no rate increase for the last 11 years, City Manager David Fierke said Fort Dodge’s current path to maintain sanitation equipment with rising landfill costs is unsustainable.

For years, the number of customers has stayed nearly as constant at the monthly rate. But if that continues to stay flat, the city might not be able to reinvest in new equipment to replace aging fleets.

“The bottom line is we won’t be able to set aside or acquire as much equipment according to what we feel our plan is at current revenue levels,” said Jeff Nemmers, Fort Dodge city clerk and finance director.

The city starts projections about five years in advance to determine how to pay for new trucks as landfill costs increase. Nemmers said the Solid Waste Collection Fund received less in fiscal year 2020 than the year before.

One solution, suggested by Councilman Neven Conrad, could be building inflationary increases into utilities to avoid large increases later on, an approach taken with the sewer rate every year.

“My perspective … is we just put inflationary increases on everything so we’re not in a situation where we have to jack up (rates) substantially after (long periods of) no change,” Conrad said.

With regular increases, residents are able to budget for it and know what to expect, he said.

Fierke said the change would be possible.

“I don’t want to seem doom and gloom and say we’ve got to raise this $10 a year,” he said. “It’s not like we’re in dire straits this year.”

The city will circle back to the discussion in the spring with more information on replacement cycles for heavily used equipment, with the possibility of planning for shorter life cycles, as it forms long-term considerations.

The City Council approved a new truck purchase for the Sanitation Division Monday from Rees Truck & Trailer of Fort Dodge. At $114,239, the 2021 Mack Chassis will replace the 2008 International truck chassis currently being used to haul and dump recycling roll-off containers.

No other bids were received.

Capital

improvement plan

Seventeen staff-submitted street projects have been sorted by priorities in a list by the mayor and City Council.

Top priorities, ranked in a system that awards various points for high, medium and low priority designations, include the following:

• The Central River District, including First Street from Karl King Bridge to Soldier Creek Bridge and Central Avenue and Third Street. Estimated cost: $8.41 million combined for two priorities.

• Reconstruction of 2¢ Avenue North and North 21st Street. Estimated cost: $500,000.

• Reconstruction of South 14th Street and Eighth Avenue South. Estimated cost: $3.27 million.

• Phase 2 of the North 14th Street corridor from First Avenue North to Sixth Avenue North. Estimated cost: $1.5 million.

• Northwest River District Corridor’s Phase 2, including the trail. Estimated cost: $6.75 million.

• Highland Park Bridge replacement and adjacent street reconstruction. Estimated cost: $3.1 million.