More shut-off valves may be coming to Mt. Union

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

More sanitary sewer shut-off valves could be fastened to lines in Mt. Union soon, the Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS) board was told during its regular monthly meeting Wednesday at the Henry County Emergency Management Office in Mt. Pleasant.

However, Mt. Union has company this time around. Bruce Hudson, RUSS executive director, said notices of the placement of shut-off valves will be sent to four property owners in Mt. Union, seven in Pleasant Plain and four in Ollie.

Hudson and the board reiterated that installing shut-off valves is the last thing RUSS wants to do but in cases of delinquent accounts, it has no choice.

?There are things you can do as a homeowner to rectify the bill,? Hudson noted. ?Once you are shut off, you have to pay in full to get the service restored. After you receive the letter (of notification of impending action), you can request a hearing (before the executive committee of RUSS).

?I would rather rectify the bill then spend another grand going to court or having a shut-off valve put on,? Hudson continued. ?Unfortunately, we have to do this. We can only go halfway and if the customer is not going to go half way, there are consequences.?

Board President Deke Wood, of Keokuk County, agreed. ?We don?t want to shut off anyone, but we need the revenue to keep going.?

Lee Dimmitt, RUSS vice president, said he has little sympathy for delinquent customers. ?We have given them the chance to pay the bill and they haven?t. I have little sympathy for them. They have a bill and it is not going away.?

Hudson did not say when the valves might be installed, but he indicated that it might be just the first wave of valves, especially in Ollie. ?The hammer is coming. There are a lot of people not paying their bills in Ollie?There could be a lot more after December. This is exactly what happened in Mt. Union. Those who are paying are going to have to pay more. It is a vicious circle.?

Ollie residents are charged $45.41 monthly by RUSS for sewer service. RUSS also attached a 10-percent monthly penalty to outstanding bills.

Donna Preston, who purchased the former Mt. Union School building last spring, also visited with RUSS about the billing of the building. Preston is converting the school into apartments and has one apartment currently rented while renovation is occurring.

She said that since she has purchased the school, she has been receiving two bills from RUSS because at one time there were two apartments in the building. ?I would like to be grandfathered in with one bill for the whole building,? she said. Preston said that she would keep RUSS informed as more apartments are being rented, so the bill can be adjusted to reflect additional users.

RUSS board members agreed with Preston, saying they appreciated her ?being up front? with the organization. Consequently, until additional apartments are rented out, Preston will be assessed just one bill.

For nearly a year, Hudson has been telling board members that there is a possibility the service system utility could be expanding to manage, but not own, sewer systems in other communities.

During Wednesday?s meeting, Hudson said RUSS could potentially manage as many as nine to 11 additional systems. He said he met recently with a water utility that has four sewer systems. That is in addition to conversations he?s had in the past year with another utility that has five systems. In addition, a community of around 4,000 residents has inquired about RUSS managing its system.

Due to the interest, the executive director asked for the board to set up a sustainability committee to help plan for the possible future addition of managing other wastewater systems.

?I have no doubt that if we had 11 systems, we will need another person, or if we take on that large community (aforementioned town of about 4,000 residents),? Hudson said. ?There are a lot of unknowns, but I still want to be ready.?

?When someone says they are ready, we want to hit the ground running,? echoed Dimmitt.

The sustainability will include the same members as the executive committee, which are the RUSS board officers (president, vice president and secretary-treasurer).

RUSS board members will meet again in regular session Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, at 1 p.m., at the Henry County Emergency Management building.