RUSS faces another dilemma in Mt. Union

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Sticky problems seemingly go with the territory of providing customer service.

The Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS) Board has had its share of difficult issues, and board members received word of another one, which will carry into August, during its monthly meeting Wednesday.

Connie Ross, of Winfield, said her parents owned three properties in Mt. Union. However, one of the properties was a storage trailer and never inhabited. The trailer, despite not being inhabited, was served by RUSS?s sewer system and therefore, billed.

?No one has ever lived in the second trailer (there are two trailers on one lot),? Ross claimed. ?It has always been used for storage.?

The other trailer was lived in sporadically by family members and others until this past February, she said.

Ross said she was never aware of the sewer line to the storage trailer until she inquired about the sewer bill earlier this year. ?I don?t think it was ever discussed that there were two sewer lines to 207 and 207-1/2 South Crew (location of the two trailers),? Ross stated. ?I was not aware of a line to 207-1/2 South Crew and the easement says only to 207 South Crew. I checked with the post office and they don?t even have an address for 207-1/2 South Crew.?

Bruce Hudson, RUSS executive director, said that company records show that three payments for each of the three properties were made in 2011.

Ross did not disagree with Hudson but said both her parents had health issues, which complicated the matter. Her father had dementia and was being taken care of by her mother before her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Ross? father and mother are now deceased.

RUSS board member Lee Dimmitt, of Jefferson County, empathized with Ross, saying he knows firsthand the burden of caring for someone with dementia. ?I don?t know where we have the authority to create a new address,? Dimmitt said. ?It appears there was no research done as to whether the other property was occupied?I understand how fragile the situation becomes when you are dealing with someone with dementia.?

Hudson said there must have been some awareness of three lines since three payments were made on three properties. He added that RUSS policy states that if there is a dwelling on the property, the dwelling must be removed before the billing ceases. Dimmitt said it was possible that Ross? mother was not aware she was paying on three properties.?

Ross said that due to the two sewer lines serving the trailers, the delinquent bill is around $8,000. ?You want complete payment but that isn?t going to happen,? she remarked. ?Even if you eliminate one bill, the $4,000 would be difficult to pay. We all have our limitations to what we can afford. I could not afford it at this time.?

Following more discussion, the board appointed a committee of board members to research the dilemma, which will be discussed again next month.

In other agenda items, the board approved the hiring of Matthew Heuvelmann, of Danville, as a sewage system operator.

Heuvelmann was interviewed last week by Hudson and three board members and all were impressed. ?I think it will be a good fit,? Hudson stated.

Dimmitt said he felt Heuvelmann ?was very personable and would do well in customer relations.?

Deke Wood, board member from Keokuk County, said he believes Heuvelmann will be an asset.

The new employee will be paid $16 per hour as a beginning wage and $500 monthly toward health insurance.

Hudson told the board that a part-time office employee is needed. He said he is looking for a person to work 25-30 hours per week at an hourly salary of $10. The board authorized Hudson to advertise for an office worker.

Since it is the beginning of a new fiscal year, RUSS also had its organizational meeting and elected board officers. The three current officers ? Wood, president, Dimmitt, vice president and Chris Ball of Louisa County, secretary-treasurer ? were re-elected.

In the public forum, Linda Johnson, of Mt. Union, told the board that she had presented a petition to the city clerk, requesting a special election on dissolving the community. ?I feel the citizens should be allowed to vote on something that impacts the whole community, not just five people (the city council).?

The vote on unincorporation will be during the general election on Nov. 8.

RUSS board members meet again in regular session Wednesday, Aug. 10, at 1 p .m., in the Henry County Emergency Management building.