Spring has finally come and with the sunny weather and springtime flowers comes the City of Molalla’s annual sewer averaging.

Unlike your monthly water usage charge which is determined by the amount of water you use in a month, wastewater (sewer usage) uses a sewer averaging methodology because measuring your wastewater would be yucky!

The sewer charges on your monthly bill are made up of two components. The Sewer Base charge is currently $56.91 per dwelling unit. Your Sewer Usage charge is determined by taking your average monthly water consumption, measured in cubic feet (CF), for a five-month period between November through March. Water usage during this time of year is primarily inside your residence and after going down the drain, gets treated at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Once your average is determined, the Sewer Usage charge is billed at $5.64 per 100CF of usage. Unless there is a rate change which normally occurs in July, this is your fixed Sewer Usage charge until the following April when your sewer average is recalculated. This way you’re not penalized for watering your garden, washing your car, filling a swimming pool and other summertime water usage activities that don’t impact the sewer system.

It’s important to note that if you had high water usage in any of the previous months from November through March due to a broken pipe, running toilet, leaky faucet, etc. that will affect your Sewer Usage charge for the coming year. If you have a question about your Sewer Usage charge, contact the Utility Billing Department at 503-829-5600 or at utilitybilling@cityofmolalla.com.

Are you curious how municipal budgeting works? Want to know what your tax dollars are spent on? Now is your chance to learn and ask questions! Please join us Thursday, March 21, 2024, 6:30pm-8:30pm, at Molalla Civic Center, 315 Kennel Avenue. Light refreshments will be served.

Molalla Elementary 5th Graders from Mr. Hewitt's class came to the March 13, 2024, City Council meeting to present their Parks Project. The Parks Project covered a range of topics including, Park Project Standards, Park Designs, and mapping. Several of the children spoke about how important parks are to them and what they learned participating in the project. The children and their parents were invited to attend Parks Community Program Committee (CPC) meetings. If you would like to view the meeting and the children's presentation, please go to https://www.facebook.com/MolallaCityCouncil and view the March 13 meeting. We are proud of these dreamers and future leaders!

Do you know a student with big ideas about Molalla? Encourage them to take part in the "If I Were Mayor..." contest. Winners from the local competition will move on to the state competition, where they could win a prize worth $500!

The 2023-2024 "If I Were Mayor..." Student Contest has kicked off!

Here is how it works...

First, each participating mayor promotes a local contest to select one local winning student in each of the three categories:

• Elementary School (grade 4-5) - Posters Contest (Photo of poster can be PNG, JPEG, or PDF files)
• Middle School (grade 6-8) - Essay Contest (Word, PDF, PowerPoint or online essay format)
• High School (grades 9-12) - Digital Media Presentations (Videos only, MP4 or online video format)

Submit your application to skeyser@cityofmolalla.com. before April 5, 2024

First place statewide winning students in each of the three categories will win $500. These students will receive their prizes at the awards luncheon held during the OMA Summer Conference in Klamath Falls at the Running Y Ranch, July 18-20, 2024. Winners will be contacted in June for travel arrangements. Second and third place winning students win $300 and $100 respectively and will receive their prizes at local city presentations.

For more information about the contest and a list of prior winners go to: https://www.oregonmayors.org/special-programs/page/student-contest

Due to inclement weather City Hall will be closed Tuesday, January 16.

Did You Know...

1. Ant Farm Youth Services, a local non-profit, is currently offering free property assessments by a Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist!

1. Ant Farm Youth Services, una organización local sin fines de lucro, ofrece actualmente evaluaciones gratuitas de propiedades realizadas por un especialista certificado en mitigación de incendios forestales!

2. If you qualify, Ant Farm will complete vegetation management on your property for free!

2. Si califica, Ant Farm completará el manejo de la vegetación en su propiedad de forma gratuita!

3. To learn more, check out the flyer on the Did You Know page of the Molalla Current or click on this link: https://current.cityofmolalla.com/14976/widgets/75121/documents/50063

3. Para obtener más información, consulte el folleto en la página ¿Sabía usted que Molalla Current o haga clic en este enlace? https://current.cityofmolalla.com/14976/widgets/75121/documents/50064

Mt. Hood Territory (Clackamas County Tourism) wants to hear about residents' experiences and perceptions of tourism in Clackamas County through their resident tourism sentiment survey. Residents input is an important and valuable tool that will help Clackamas County Tourism and community partners fine-tune work plans, identify issues, adjust priorities, and collaborate on projects with shared benefit potential.

The survey link will be open through Thursday, November 30th.