Some taps may dry up in Redkey (08/18/06)

REDKEY - As many as 20 homes and businesses here may be without water by the end of today, as town officials get serious about a crackdown to collect past due bills - including some dating back several years.

"A bunch of water services are set to be shut off Friday," town utilities employee and council member Violet Erlenbush said during Thursday night's monthly council meeting.

She suggested the shut-offs be postponed until Monday.

Erlenbush said that some of the affected homeowners may not discover the water has been turned off until they come home from work this evening. Town offices are closed over the weekend, so customers would not be able to pay their past-due bills and restore water service until Monday morning.

She thought this could create a hardship for some families as well as a problem for town employees like herself, as people might come to their homes on the weekend in an attempt to get their water turned back on.

The situation could get "scary," Erlenbush said.

"I just thought it would be good to schedule the shut-offs for Monday when the town office is open," Erlenbush said.

Town attorney John Brooke countered, "No other town makes water shut-offs at the convenience of the people who don't pay their bills."

Redkey clerk-treasurer Sandy Kirby explained 17 water users were on the shut-off list for Friday, and these customers had not paid for at least the last two months of service in addition to being sent notices at the beginning of August to pay or face the possibility of having their water service shut off.

Earlier in Thursday night's council meeting, Brooke said the town had already turned off water at five locations due to problems with past-due bills.

In a report to the town council Thursday night, Brooke said that town officials had turned over 77 delinquent water accounts to his office for action.

The attorney said that nine of those have since paid, 13 have entered into agreements to pay, negotiations are continuing on seven other accounts, and nine more have promised to mail checks.

Kirby added that since Brooke's figures were compiled, three more agreements to pay had been signed, increasing that total from 13 to 16.

Also Thursday, several local property owners addressed the town council Thursday night, disputing the accuracy of Redkey's water-billing records, claiming they had made payments prior to Kirby becoming clerk-treasurer and had not received credit for them.

Kirby was appointed clerk-treasurer late last year, after the former clerk-treasurer, Brenda Adkins, submitted her resignation from that position in October while Indiana State Board of Accounts auditors were in the midst of reviewing Redkey financial records. Adkins subsequently reimbursed the town nearly $40,000 to cover misappropriated funds, along with $3,189 in unnecessary finance charges incurred by the town and $4,284 to cover the cost of state audits. The state audit alleged Adkins diverted $32,061.99 from utility payments for her personal use while she was in office.

Since that time a special prosecutor has been appointed and an investigation by Indiana State Police is ongoing.

Among those disputing the town's records at Thursday's meeting was former town council president Clayton Phillips, who presented a copy of a $300 canceled check for water service which he had sent to the town in June of 2005, but which was reportedly never credited to his account.

Other town residents said they had made cash payments which were not credited to their accounts.

Redkey area resident Phil Stolz raised several questions about his water bill account, saying that he had done work at the town's sewer plant which was supposed to be reimbursed to him as a credit on his water bill account several years ago.

Stolz said he never got paid and he never received any credit on his water bill account. This happened six years ago, Stolz said. Brooke advised Stolz to come to the town hall during business hours, and Kirby would research the matter for him.

In other business at Thursday night's meeting, council members:

•Received a report from Kirby about proposals for the town's 2007 budget. She said a public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, at town hall regarding the new budget. "The board may have to make some tough decisions on possible budget cuts," she said, adding that perhaps a budget work session for the council members should be scheduled before the public hearing.

Kirby noted that the town's 2005 budget was overspent by $32,000 and "that didn't help our situation at all."

•Approved a resolution transferring funds in the 2006 budget from various accounts to make up for shortfalls in the general fund, water operating fund and sewage operating fund. Kirby recommended taking this action which involves transfers totaling $56,000 to the general fund, $15,000 to the water operating fund, and $14,000 to the sewer operating fund. These transfers represent temporary loans which will eventually have to be paid back, Kirby explained.

•Agreed to have Wayne Bailey and Commonwealth Engineering of Indianapolis do preliminary engineering work and an environmental study regarding replacement of the old 75,000-gallon capacity water tank with a 150,000-gallon capacity storage tank. Brooke said Bailey would be applying for a $5,600 United States Department of Agriculture grant to help fund this project. The agreement with Commonwealth calls for the engineering firm to be paid $7,500. Redkey will need to pay $1,900 in matching grant funds. Kirby said the town had some money in its railroad fund account which could be used for this purpose. Brooke said he had been in contact with Jay County Community Developer Ami Davidson regarding help with grants.

•Authorized Brooke to start proceedings to cite owners of "unsafe buildings" into court

•Discussed the need to control the stray dog and cat populations in town, as well as raccoons that have reportedly invaded vacant downtown buildings.[[In-content Ad]]