The Helena City Commission approved a resolution establishing residential and commercial wastewater service charges at its September 28th meeting, passing the measure 5-0 without public comment.
The resolution covers specific fee-based services the city provides through its wastewater system — including TV camera inspection of service lines, high-pressure jetting of blocked lines, and fees for septic dumping at city facilities. These are charges for discrete services rendered, separate from the recurring usage rates that property owners pay based on water consumption or equivalent dwelling unit calculations.
The commission took the charges up as a standalone resolution, consistent with the city's established practice of keeping rate items and service charge items on separate tracks. That separation allows each to be evaluated and adjusted independently, without one revision requiring the other to be reopened.
No residents spoke during the public comment period. The unanimous vote suggests the proposed charge schedule was not a point of contention among commissioners. Residents who use any of the covered services — whether they've had a sewer line inspected or needed a septic haul — will be subject to the newly adopted fee schedule.