Water bills to see rate increase
LAUREL - Those using city water here may be seeing an increase in their bills soon.
The Laurel City Council went through the first ordinance reading which would raise the city’s monthly water fee from $14 to $17.35 per month and water usage fee from $2 to $2.37. The ordinance will go through two more readings before passed unless the council waives it, said City Clerk Vickie Carlson.
New water meters will be installed to continue a project started in 2013. About two-thirds of the meters still need to be purchased and installed.
“This would give a much more accurate account of our water pumped versus our water sold,” City Administrator Mark McCoy said in his latest administrative report. “The remote reading system would free up outside employees from spending several days running down water meter readings to do other job duties.”
Meter readings could be read monthly rather than quarterly, he said.
An additional well is a priority for the community, McCoy said. And the city may use American Rescue Plan Act (federal COVID-19 relief) monies for water and sewer infrastructure. Currently, test samples have been taken from 110 acres purchased southeast of Laurel for a potential new well site.
The city council also ratified the sale of vicarious purpose bonds of $2.135 million with a 1.76 percent overall cost. All of the money goes to fund the downtown revitalization project.
This spring, drainage and concrete at the Second and Cedar street intersection will be finished along with the sidewalk on Second Street by the Community Center. The installation of curb drainage between Third and Spruce streets and Third and Pine streets will also be completed this spring. Second Street from the west end of the downtown revitalization project to Highway 20 will also undergo work for a three-inch asphalt overlay this year.
At its meeting, the council also:
- Approved a 7,200-voltage line to the new school transformer site.
- Discussed the possibility of Waste Connections of Norfolk taking over the city’s commercial garbage collection.
- Approved building permits including: Scott Quinn for a 1,871-square-foot garage; Scott and Kim Boysen for a 9-by-7 foot cement patio, a 12-by-4 foot sidewalk and a 50-by-18 foot cement driveway; James Roberts for a 40-by-40 foot garage; and Diana Carrillo representing the classes of 1982 and 1983 for a memorial bench to be located on the west side of the walking trail facing Haskell Field.
- Approved zoning changes defining a single family dwelling and providing height requirements for accessory buildings, among other changes.
- Heard a police department report for the month which included: two fix-it tickets; five warnings; two parking tickets; two animal complaints; one criminal mischief call; two motorist assists; two outside assists; 14 school traffic calls; two citizen complaints; one funeral traffic assist; two alarms; 178 building checks; one nuisance vehicle; three suspicious people; and two traffic complaints.
