The City of Newton is trying a new procedure when it comes to cutting off water delinquent customers.
The Board of Aldermen have asked public works superintendent Fred Snow to have his employees call City Hall to make sure that they haven’t paid before they terminate water service and issue a $35 fee, formerly called a reconnect fee.
Alderman Eric McCalphia said he thinks it’s only fair to charge the reconnect fee only when water has been turned off.
“All you have to do is to call city hall and see if they have paid before you cut them off,” McCalphia said. “That seems the most fair thing to do.”
The discussion was prompted by city attorney Brian Mayo presenting revisions to the current water ordinance to reflect the wishes of the board of aldermen to come up with a fair solution to cutting off customers. This was one of the changes reflected in the proposed ordinance.
Since the aldermen couldn’t adopt the ordinance immediately at the last meeting, he suggested asking ask Snow do a trial run with their February cut-offs, which occurred on Feb. 19 due to the Presidents Day holiday. The last day customers could pay without fear of a disruption in service was by 5 p.m. Feb. 18.
“At the next meeting, they can report back to you to see how it went before the board considers adopting the changes,” Mayo said.
One other change that city clerk Charlene Evans asked the board to consider was increasing the initial deposit to help cover unpaid bills from new customers who never paid a water bill and then moved once the water service was terminated.
No action was taken on the measure at that time.
In other business, the aldermen:
• passed a resolution asking MDOT to four-lane Hwy. 15 from I-20 to north edge of the city limits.
• will pay Neel-Shafffer $498 on the sewer project when funds become available.
• passed a resolution to honor several high-performing Newton students at a future meeting.
• will pay East Central Planning and Development $4,621.47 on the Biewer Access Road Project when funds become available.
• increased starting pay for certified full-time officers to $14 per hour to be more competitive with cities the size of Newton.
• accepted resignations of police officers Damian Blackmon and David Viverette.
• terminated officer Kevin Russell.
• hired Paris Griffin, Michael Williams, James Cree and McKenzie Patrick as full-time certified police officers at $14 per hour and Deandre Wilson as a non-certified officer at $12 per hour.
• hired Bruce Mize as a part-time polygraph examiner at $10 per hour as needed.
• rescinded hiring Cornelius Parks on Jan. 7.
• amended the agenda and gave Fred Snow a $3,000 pay raise. The measure passed with a 3-0 vote with two abstentions.
