ELKINS — Elkins City Council passed a 21.5% sewer rate increase Thursday on its second and final reading.

Two people spoke against the increase in a public hearing just before the start of Thursday’s city council meeting.

Mike Elza, of South Kerens Avenue, asked council to wait and gather more information before making a final vote.

“What’s the rush? There might be better options,” Elza said, imploring council to find another way to pay for the Phase 2 sewage project than to raise citizens’ sewer bills.

Clark Martin told council that he lives in Teaberry Hills, outside city limits, but is billed by the city for his sewage service.

He said the city has been spending money in areas that are less important to the community than the sewer project. He pointed to the city’s purchase of the former National Guard Armory for $200,000 in 2014. The city renamed the building as the Phil Gainer Community Center and is moving forward with issuing bonds of up to $750,000 to pay for renovations at the facility.

“I don’t think any of you would purchase a home at that rate with that much upkeep,” Martin said.

“The money could be better spent … on what will best benefit the majority,” he told council.

After the public hearing, the regular council meeting began, with all nine council members present voting to approve the rate increase. Third Ward Councilman Chris Lowther arrived at the meeting after the vote had been taken.

Operations Manager Bob Pingley commented before the vote that, although some residents have suggested that the city should take revenue from the 1% sales tax to pay for the Phase 2 project, using the tax money for that purpose is impossible.

“The 1% sales tax can in no way, shape or form be used for the sewer project,” Pingley said. “The penny sales tax is a general revenue fund thing, it cannot be used (for revenue fund projects).”

Pingley also pointed out that the increased sewer rates are still lower than that of many communities in West Virginia.

“Statewide, we are still, with the rate increase, in the bottom 50% of sewer rates,” he said. “We’re not out of line here.”

Mayor Van Broughton said the increase was necessary but painful for city officials.

“No one wanted to do this, but it had to be done,” Broughton said during the meeting. “This is something that was kicked down the road to us, it got dumped in our lap. But we didn’t want to kick it down the road to future councils. We need to take care of it now.”

The purpose of the Sewer/Stormwater Project, as the city refers to the effort, is the segregation of the sanitary sewer from the storm sewer to meet a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency consent decree in relation to Elkins’ inability to adhere to Clean Water Act regulations.

Separating the two systems will enhance the sewer facility’s capacity. During heavy rains in the past, the sewer has overflowed and spilled over into the Tygart River.

The consent decree was ordered in 2012 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, with the state and the U.S. government as the plaintiffs and the city of Elkins as the defendant. The consent decree was the result of a negotiation between the parties involved.

Phase 1 of the project, which began in 2015, focused on Barron Avenue, Kerens Avenue, College Street and Wilson Street.

Phase 2 will affect Lavalette Avenue and Elm Street.