Published: July 23, 2008 11:53 am      

Westernport officials lower late fees on water bills

WESTERNPORT - Westernport officials are attempting to make things a little less painful for residents who might be a bit behind on their water bills.

At the same time, the officials have been able to eke out a small amount of money for some badly needed blacktopping in the town.

At the request of Water Commissioner J. Thomas "Tuck" Martin on July 14, the mayor and council unanimously approved scaling back the first-time late fee for water bill customers from $20 to $10.

The $20 fee had been put into place by the previous administration as a means of cracking down on delinquent water bills.

Martin said last week he had heard a lot of complaints about the increase and proposed that the council rescind the decision.

With unanimous approval of the council, the town will now charge $10 for the first month that payment for a bill is late and an additional $20 for the second month.

"And then if they still haven't paid, we'll shut it off," he said.

Mayor Amel Morris has also announced that Martin, in his capacity as financial officer, had prepared the town's $1.8 million budget for 2008-2009. In that budget, officials were able to triple their blacktopping fund from $10,000 to $30,000 with an eye toward taking care of some of the more seriously eroded streets in the town.

Officials also allocated $55,000 toward the planned upgrade to the town's filtration plant, and set aside $60,000 for a "rainy day" fund.

The budget was approved unanimously by the officials June 30.

Other issues that came before the council July 14 included:

* Martin said he is attempting to set up a meeting with the Maryland Department of the Environment in an attempt to get progress on the filter plant upgrade back on track.

* Property owner Roy Droll expressed interest in purchasing the town-owned piece of property across from his Vine Street apartment building for use as parking. The property was closed off by a previous administration in an attempt to help cut down on alleged illegal activity in the area.

* Vine Street resident Dottie Riggleman complained about fireworks in her neighborhood on the Fourth of July.

* After receiving a complaint about ruined laundry due to hydrant flushing, officials agreed to consider a more effective method of informing residents when they plan to flush the hydrants in their neighborhood.

Contact Liz Beavers at lbeavers@times-news.com.