LAKESIDE - Lakeside Mayor Orville Nelson's sleepless nights turned out to be for naught.

The leader of this tiny coastal city expressed some anxiousness heading into Thursday's regular monthly meeting where the City Council had plans to hike monthly sewer bills by 50 percent.

The chances of Lakeside residents turning out en masse to bash the idea was likely. Afterall, many of the residents here are on fixed incomes and $180 more each year is not pittance.

“This is one of the really tough decisions that this council has had to make,” Nelson said before the council launched into a 25-minute discussion on the issue.

But make it they did.

The council passed the resolution unanimously, before an audience of about 20, setting into motion a new sewer fee of $45 per household, beginning Aug. 1, instead of $30 per month. Business owners - who already pay more than $30 - will see their bills rise by 50 percent too, with some seeing their bills jump to $101.

Like many other cities in rural Oregon, Lakeside's outdated sewer treatment plant has been scheduled for a $4.7 million makeover after surpassing the allowable release levels of treated sewage into nearby creeks. The city has been warned to fix the problems, in the wake of stricter environmental laws - or face litigation.

On Wednesday, Nelson, councilman Tim Crockett, an engineer from Dyer & Associates and city staff attended a meeting with Clem Singer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to settle on a new sewer fee. The group decided on $45, which will generate enough revenue for the city to pay back USDA's $4.7 million loan and to cover some repair and maintenance costs for the aging plant.

Both Crockett and Nelson argued the fee hike was mandatory and that if the council voted it down, the costs to upgrade the plant would only continue to go up and delay the inevitable.

“It's going up daily,” Nelson said of the construction costs. “There's absolutely nothing we can do about it.”

Nelson sought to bypass any heated questions about delays in beginning the project by pointing out that since the project was first proposed, “months and months ago” by a previous city council, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality - which must approve the plans - has been inundated by similar projects across the state.

Meanwhile, the construction bids have escalated from $2.4 million to $4.7 million, he said. DEQ approved the plans Thursday morning. Various councilors noted the fee could have been larger had the bonds not been accompanied by grants. Councilman Jim Brown said the $4.7 million included $1.7 million in grants - about 36 percent of the total funding package.

“Most (cities) get less than 25 percent of grants,” Brown said.

Any anticipated public outrage never really surfaced.

One resident, Curtis Hoyle, tried to encourage the city to forego a flat fee, and wanted the council to instead charge residents based on actual usage. Hoyle, who said he owns a home in Arizona, said he routinely pays $68 to $77 each month for sewer services there where he's charged by the cubic foot. He thought the city could get more money if they did likewise.

Phyliss Walsh of Lakeside wanted to know if this would be the last rate increase. But several councilors, speaking at the same time, informed her that future increases would occur as dictated by inflation.

Lakeside resident Dan Gonsalves wanted to know if the city also intended to increase the fees charged to Shutter Creek Correctional Institution, which also uses city sewer. Nelson replied there would be a 50-percent increase for all users - including Shutter Creek.

Another resident wanted assurances that the money would go strictly toward the sewer bond and not additional city staff. Nelson responded by saying the money could not be allocated for anything but the bond and repairs.

“Once it is budgeted, it's going for nothing else,” he said.

Councilman Jim Brown moved to adopt the resolution to raise the sewer rates, which was seconded by councilman Harlon Green. The motion passed unanimously.

“It's sad but it's happening to every city,” said Chuck McKay, the owner of McKay's Markets, which operates a store in Lakeside. “But you just don't dump effluent into creeks and rivers anymore - anywhere.”

McKay, who did not attend Thursday's meeting, said the impact could be huge for business owners in Lakeside.

“It may mean the difference between profit and loss for some businesses,” McKay said, noting that if the new charges don't break some businesses - it will come close for some.

“There is less significant things that've caused that,” McKay said.

The bills with the new rates will be issued Aug. 1, covering the sewer use for July. The next phase of the project will go out to bid this week.