Dunkirk’s water plant is the exclusive supplier for the North County Water District.

A rate hike for Dunkirk’s water sales to the North County Water District should be coming later this week, the city’s Department of Public Works Director said.

Randy Woodbury told the city Common Council’s Finance Committee that Peter Reinelt, a SUNY Fredonia professor who has traditionally worked on pricing issues for the city and water district, has most of the information he needs to plug into his rate-determining formula. All he needs for a final formula is a few updated numbers, Woodbury said.

The DPW head said the new number will be delivered this week to water district officials. It will take effect April 1, he said.

Councilman-at-Large Nick Weiser sought to revisit a proposal that came up during 2024 budget talks: a declining block rate for water users. Woodbury suggested another meeting about the issue once Reinelt has finished his latest formula.

A declining block rate would allow large-scale water users to pay less once they hit certain usage levels. Woodbury said.

Currently, everyone in Dunkirk pays the same rate no matter how much water they use. As Woodbury put it, whether someone drinks one glass of water per day or uses thousands of gallons an hour, such as the Wells ice cream factory, they pay the same rate.

Speaking of Wells, Woodbury also had some news there: The company has installed and paid for three new taps to city water lines, as its multimillion-dollar expansion project continues.

Woodbury said.

When Wells’ new production facilities are online, they expect to use 1,000 gallons of water every minute, he said. he said.