Water bill reprieve in Redkey (03/17/06)

REDKEY — About 80 residents who owe $90,000 in delinquent water bills won’t have their water turned off for at least another 30 days.

Town clerk-treasurer Sandy Kirby told members of the town council Thursday evening that she had prepared past-due notices and mailed several, warning that water service shut-offs would take place this month if payment arrangements were not made.

But council members agreed to postpone shutting off anyone’s water service for at least another 30 days.

The town’s water billing accounts are a mess, Kirby said, pointing out that the 82 past-due accounts total approximately $90,000 owed to the town of Redkey.

The town faces serious financial problems and the community’s water tower and tank are in need of repair or replacement, according to town council president Dottie Quakenbush.

Thursday night’s discussion was started by residents William and Tammi Boltz who had been informed by the clerk’s office that they were behind in their water payments.

Initially, Quakenbush said that residents receiving notices about delinquent water bills should contact Kirby about making some sort of payment arrangements. Otherwise, shut-offs had been scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Quakenbush said that, “A lot of people have signed up to pay so much a month.”

Following more debate between audience members and town officials, Quakenbush agreed to the 30-day, across-the-board extension until the next regular council session and further review of the matter by town attorney John Brooke.

“People should at least be paying their current water bills at this time,” commented Leslie Horn, an attorney who is a member of Brooke’s law firm and was filling in for Brooke at Thursday night’s meeting.

Kirby was appointed clerk-treasurer late last year after longtime clerk-treasurer Brenda Adkins resigned while the Indiana State Board of Accounts was in the midst of conducting an audit of Redkey’s financial records — including the water billing accounts.

Several people Thursday — including Mr. and Mrs. Boltz — said they had receipts showing they had made payments not currently reflected in the Redkey water billing records.

The debate at times was heated, and for a while several separate discussions were taking place at different corners of the meeting room simultaneously. Quakenbush finally said there will not be any water shut-offs until after the next regular council session on April 20 and Brooke has had time to make a recommendation on the situation.

The council president also reminded residents: “You’re not dealing with Brenda anymore. Deal with Sandy.”

In other business, Redkey Economic Development Committee president Randy Young reported that that group had voted 4-3 to go along with a plan by the town council to use $20,000 in economic development income tax (EDIT) funds to make water main repairs to increase water pressure for several homes and a fire hydrant in the area of West Main and Nixon streets.

This was discussed at a previous council meeting where bids for the project were opened and then the suggestion was made to contact the REDC about using EDIT funds.

Young said a $20,000 zero interest loan had been approved, with payments of $2,000 a year for 10 years.

Young, who also serves as the Redkey fire chief, said there was a lot of debate on this issue. He said EDIT funds would normally not be used for such a project, but the majority of REDC members considered this to be an emergency. However, he added that it had been a “tough sell” by Quakenbush to the committee members.

The REDC meeting lasted more than an hour, with Young, Don Knisely, Phil Philebaum and Jay County Development Corporation director Robert Quadrozzi voting in favor of the loan.

Members Roberta Garringer, Randy Blanton and Kevin Lawhead voted against the proposal.

In the official REDC committee minutes Quadrozzi noted, “It was the general consensus of those present that there are not enough EDIT funds available to address the substantial infrastructure problems faced by the town of Redkey.”

Also Thursday, Young said that he has been asked several times why the town had hired a private contractor to do this work and then agreed to supply materials, town equipment and workers to assist with the job. He said he wanted to know the answers to these questions himself. Also Young said that some of the REDC members didn’t like seeing in the newspaper that EDIT money was going to be used for this project before any request was made to the REDC.

Violet Erlenbush, a council member and employee of the town’s utilities department, said that a special council meeting would be set up, with consulting engineer Chad Ducey present, to describe this project in detail and answer questions from the public.

That special meeting will also deal with the town’s insurance policy which is coming up for renewal in April, Erlenbush and Quakenbush said.

Also at Thursday night’s meeting, council members:

•Granted permission for a Fun for Kidz carnival and fair on May 24-27 in the downtown Redkey area.

•Set Saturday, June 3 as the date for a town-wide cleanup day. More details will be released later, town council members said.

•Heard Quakenbush compliment the police department on its efforts in recent weeks to reduce the number of junk and abandoned vehicles in town.

•Learned that four new reserve police officers had completed a 40-hour training program, earning special certificates. These officers include Eric James, Jonathan Pierce, Richard Philebaum and Trisha Barnes.[[In-content Ad]]