An ordinance amending the current Middlesboro sewer regulations has passed, and the next step will be to contact the water company with the new rates.

“The vote passed with a vote of eight to zero, and Philip Ball was absent for the vote,” said Middlesboro Mayor Rick Nelson. “We will contact the water company with the new rates, and they will put them into place.”

Mayor Nelson said that he is unsure if the rates will take place in April or May.

“Because of the timing, those rates will more than likely be seen on the May water bills,” he said.

A special called meeting was held Thursday to read the proposed amendment, and it passed the first reading which sent it into a Friday vote.

The increase in rates will go toward phases that are scheduled to make several repairs and updates to the sewer system in Middlesboro.

A handout was made available showing the plan, and it will be in seven phases that adds up financially to $9.3 million to complete all seven phases.

“I was against this when I first started hearing about it, but once you sit down and analyze this from a business perspective, the fact of the matter is, the city cannot operate on a 1985 sewer rate, that’s just impossible,” said councilman Bo Green. “Then when you analyze it from an engineering firm, you look at all the pipes and treatment plant and all the stuff that we really need to tackle as a city as well.”