Leesburg Changes Water Rates for Restaurants and Churches
Posted
Craig Brosman-
LEESBURG – Monday night the Leesburg Town Council voted to amend the water rates.
In a unanimous vote, the council amended the water rates for churches and restaurants. The previous rates were higher than the council had thought they would be.
Council President Tom Moore said that some of the preliminary thoughts on rates were what they expected them to be, but others were a little bit off or high.
“We are not processing quite the gallons from Warsaw that we thought, and we have a little room in the rates to alleviate some things that were simply excessive,” said Moore.
The rates in which Moore referred to were the five gallons per day per seat rate for churches and the 35 gallons per day per seat for restaurants.
“The rates that were established were high and we can adjust them to meet our financial obligation as bond holders,” Moore said.
After the council noticed the issue they asked H.J. Umbaugh and Associates to write a sewer amendment to the ordinance. Moore said that there was ambiguity on the definition of properties.
“Those issues have been addressed quite clearly,” Moore said. “In the amendment the church rate will now be three gallons per day per seat, and the restaurants will drop from 35 gallons per day per seat to 17 gallons per day per seat. That still leaves us with a cushion with obligation to our bond holders.”
Councilman Larry Richey motioned to accept the sewer amendment written by Umbaugh. Councilman Doug Jones seconded the motion saying that he thought it was necessary and a great thing to do. The motion passed 3-0.
During monthly reports from town officials, Leesburg Street Commissioner Brandon Queen informed those who were in attendance that he will put the plows and spreaders on the trucks by the end of the week.
“If there is storm damage or refuge, please get it out to the curb as soon as possible so I can come get it before the trucks are tied up,” Queen said.
Queen also informed the council that his meeting with the Indiana Department of Transportation went well.
“We went over stuff on Ind. 15 and they will mill the big, nasty curve on 15 near the Freedom Express gas station,” Queen said. “They will also redo lines, signs, repour grates and, in front of PNC, put a concrete gutter there.”
Queen was unsure when INDOT would begin their work on 15.
Derek Tenney, of Tenney and Sons Septic Tank Cleaning Inc., brought the council up to speed on the matter of the sewer grinder pumps.
“It has been a fun and exciting month,” Tenney said. “The following Monday after our last meeting I had to make a special trip to Indy for parts. Pumps went down on us and we didn’t have parts to fix them.”
The pumps were temporarily out of order, but not down for more than 24 hours. Moore asked Tenney how many extra pumps were available and Tenney explained there were 10, but they were out for a while until he could fix them. They are now available.
“E1 has noticed a trend in the amount of pumps breaking. We are keeping a list and they might send us a lot of parts and technicians to fix them if they continue to fail. They just need to assess the failure rates,” he said.
Tenney explained to the council that the issue was not with E1 but the company who made the switch for the pumps.
“When E1 designed the pump they designed it with a certain material to be used for the switch, but the company who made the switch changed the specifications and used a different material,” Tenney said. “E1 is behind their product 100 percent and is doing everything they can to get it fixed and the new parts are corrected.”
Of the 210 pumps in Leesburg, 40 percent of them have been fixed with the new switch and Tenney is closely monitoring the issue.
In closing, the council issued a statement that there are to be no vehicles parked on the streets between the hours of 3 and 6 a.m. If vehicles ignore this notice, they will be towed.
