Delinquent Mt. Union sewer customers could have service shut off soon

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Mt. Union residents who are not paying their sewer bills to the Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS) could be dangerously close to having their sewer system turned off.

Following a closed-session meeting with legal counsel Wednesday during the RUSS Board of Director?s regular meeting, the board passed three motions regarding sewer service in Mt. Union.

The first motion was to install shut-off valves to individual sewers of non-paying customers, 60 days or more in arrears, according to RUSS policies and procedures. Hudson emphasized that individual systems can be shut off, which would not impact service to customers who have been paying their sewer bills.

RUSS policies and procedures, adopted on June 12, 2013, state that any individual (the person who is responsible for payment) who is 60 days past due on a sewer bill will be given a shut-off notice. If that notice is disregarded, a second notice will be sent within seven days by certified mail. If the second notice is disregarded, RUSS will start implementing system shut-off procedures.

?They basically have seven days to rectify the bill ? make arrangements for payment or pay in full,? said RUSS Executive Director Bruce Hudson. He said he did not know what payment programs, if any, were available saying he would have to take the matter to the board. ?Each case would have to be looked at individually.?

Some Mt. Union residents, Hudson said, have not paid any money since the system went online in September of 2010.

A second motion, which passed unanimously, says RUSS will start mandamus procedures, forcing the Mt. Union City Council to enforce a resolution it passed in 2014, assessing the bills of delinquent properties to property tax rolls or giving RUSS the power to assess and collect payment from the delinquent properties.

Finally, a third motion says that RUSS will pursue small-claims procedures against users 60 days in arrears.

RUSS Executive Director Bruce Hudson said shut-off notices will be sent this week to customers at least 60 days in arrears. ?We are moving forward,? he said.

The RUSS-Mt. Union dilemma has been playing out for over a year. Approximately 15 Mt. Union customers have never paid their sewer bill and collectively, Mt. Union residents owe nearly $45,000. RUSS raised individual monthly sewer bills from $75.85 to $150 beginning with the January billing. However, payments still have lagged, RUSS officials said, behind what RUSS needs to cover its note on the system, operation and maintenance costs.

RUSS is fearful that if it cannot make its monthly payment on its note to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), that it could jeopardize USDA funding for other RUSS projects.

Steve Gerling and Randy Wilkerson, of Mt. Union, were at the meeting and supported RUSS? action.

?I think the first thing they (RUSS) have to do if people aren?t paying, is shut them off,? Gerling said. ?Sewer is no different than water or electricity. If you don?t pay those bills, they shut off your service.

?I agree with what RUSS is doing,? Gerling continued. ?They have been up front with us?This should have been done two or three years ago. Now, a lot of people can?t afford to pay $3,000.?

In other action, the RUSS board approved the purchase of two pickups from Karl Chevrolet, in Des Moines. Both pickups are four-wheel drive. The first is a half-ton crew pickup for $28,446.61, and the second is a three-quarter ton for $34,857.30.

Directors also gave Hudson authority to spend up to $3,000 for a mower.

RUSS directors will meet again in regular session on Wednesday, March 9, at 1 p.m., in the Henry County Emergency Management Building ,in Mt. Pleasant.