Redkey water ordinance adjusted

REDKEY — Residents will now be able to receive utility bill adjustments for leaks that are under their homes.

Redkey Town Council members made several changes to the town’s water ordinance at their special meeting Thursday. The ordinance has been a frequent topic of discussion this year.

According to the ordinance put into effect this year, council could only grant adjustments for underground leaks. Several council members expressed disagreement with this more restrictive policy, and in September granted an adjustment for a leak underneath a resident’s house.

On Thursday, council president Gary Gardner said he was told by the Indiana State Board of Accounts that council was not allowed to grant adjustments for issues not listed in the water ordinance.

“We really don’t have the power unless we’ve got the ordinance to back it up,” Gardner said. “Right now, the only thing that we can adjust is the water leaks underground.”

He and council member Randy May suggested changing the ordinance to allow council more leeway in approving adjustments, granting them on a case-by-case basis. This would include leaks underground, underneath homes and inside homes — such as water heater leaks.  

However, the remaining council members were not in favor of this adjustment policy. They expressed concern that some residents might try to take advantage of this policy and request adjustments they don’t actually need.

“You can’t just give everybody a chance to go up and say, ‘I want an adjustment.’ It would drive the clerk-treasurer crazy,” said council member Dottie Quakenbush. “So it has to be pertaining to the underground water leak only.”

Council voted 3-2 to allow adjustments only in the cases of leaks underground and beneath residences. Erik Hammers, John Pierce and Quakenbush were in favor of the change, while Gardner and May voted against it.

Residents are allowed one adjustment per calendar year.  

The ordinance also previously required residents to produce an invoice showing that a plumber has fixed the leak before being granted an adjustment. Council removed this stipulation, noting that some perform their own home repairs. Residents can instead show the receipts from purchasing supplies or a photo of the repair.

Finally, council updated its list of those who are authorized to access water meter pits to shut off water in the event of a leak. Residents are not allowed to turn off their own water and must contact the town if a leak occurs during business hours. For after-hours and weekend leaks, Randy Young has typically been called for water shut-offs. Because he is a town employee, residents incur a $75 fee for these after-hours leaks.

In an effort to reduce both costs to residents and Young’s workload, council decided to remove his name from the call list for after-hours water shut-offs. The new list includes council members Gardner, Pierce and May, along with Red Coons and Donnie Knisely.

Residents experiencing water leaks can contact Jay County dispatch, which will connect them with someone on the authorized list, or they can contact someone on the list directly.

At the end of Thursday’s meeting, council members briefly discussed the possibility of holding its future meetings virtually instead of meeting in person. Hammers also told his fellow council members that they should be encouraging local residents to wear masks and businesses to enforce Indiana’s mask mandate in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.