LOCKESBURG – A greatly reduced agenda made for a brief meeting of the Lockesburg city council Tuesday evening, with the one major issue the body heard being several complaints of excessive water bills.
As the city entered into their agreement with the Natural Resources Council for funding to help replace the aging water system serving the residents of the city, they had been told that they were unable to make adjustments to customers’ water bills in the case of overages, according to city clerk Becky Jegstrup. Despite that original condition, city employee Joanna Giusti reported that in a recent conversation with a representative of the NRC, that person had stated the group would be amenable to some adjustments being made, so long as the city was able to maintain the payments agreed to in the contract for loan repayment.
After hearing that, the council considered four requests to adjust water bills in amounts ranging from around $30 to over $400. The council quickly approved three of the requests, which they considered had considerable evidence to show that the cause of the overage on the bill was either repaired or was caused by factors outside of the owner’s control. The fourth request, for an adjustment of more than $400, they deferred until more evidence showing that the situation was resolved and not likely to be repeated could be produced.
Other items heard during the meeting included:
• A review of the city fire department roster, which had been recently delivered by the fire department.
• The approval of a building permit request to move a newly manufactured trailer house into the city.
• A reminder from Giusti that the city’s annual drinking water quality report would be sent to residents in the near future.
• A statement by Mayor Danny Ruth that the city should plan to send at least one person to attend the annual Arkansas Rural Water Association conference this coming September.
