West Point officials address water meter concerns

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October 12, 2009

By Tiffany Green The Cullman Times The Cullman Times Mon Oct 12, 2009, 08:12 AM CDT

WEST POINT — West Point’s town council held a special meeting Thursday evening to address residents’ concerns over the sanitary sewer system.

The controversy stems from the town reading the Vinemont Anon West Point (VAW) water meters currently in place.

“We are all in this thing to do what’s right,” mayor Kenneth Kilgo said. “We don’t want to violate anybody’s rights of privacy.”

Some residents voiced concerns over the town reading the privately owned meters.

Town attorney Dan Willingham said to his knowledge, everything the town is doing is legal.

“If you are incorporated under Title 11 of the Code of Alabama, it is public record and anyone can come read it,” Willingham said. “VAW is a private corporation, or a type of co-op, so there could be some debate.”

Willingham said it is irrelevant who reads the meter and could not find any legal cases where it was in question.

“We formed a contract with owners that allow us to read the meter,” Kilgo said. “We just want to do what is right. To me, it’s raising the lid once a month and reading the numbers. It’s not invasive.”

The other option would be to set a flat rate for all customers.

“One option is we can go back and amend the ordinance and charge a flat rate, but we would have to establish it on the high side and that wouldn’t be fair,” Kilgo said. “A flat rate would hurt people.”

Kilgo said the town would only read meters of people who are connected to the system.

“The meter is not on private property,” Willingham said. “But we wanted to make sure and put it in the contract that we could read the meters. The main issue is who owns the meters.”

Brian Stricklin, owner of the Brandin Iron Steakhouse, attended the meeting with concerns. Stricklin prepared for the sewer system when he bought the restaurant.

“I can already tell a tremendous difference,” he said of the water flow and drainage problems he previously had.

To ease Stricklin’s concerns, Kilgo said the town will install a separate meter for the business to read just the consumption into the sewer system.

Kilgo sent a letter to the VAW board of directors in April, stating the town was beginning the sewer project and asking for a partnership with the VAW.

“The town takes great pride in offering a partnership with the VAW Water System, Inc. to bill and collect sewage use funds through your normal monthly billing process. We feel this is a good partnership for both the town and the VAW. This partnership just makes sense. The VAW would collect the funds. The town would pay a portion of the funds back to the VAW in the form of an administrative fee for providing this service. While the town has other options for the billing and collecting, this partnership with the VAW would be the preferred method...,” the letter read in part.

Kilgo said the town did not receive a response from the VAW.

“We don’t have to read anyone’s meter before the Oct. 19 meeting, and if we have to, we will do a flat rate and work with Brian (Stricklin),” Kilgo said.

Attempts to reach VAW attorney Roy Williams were unsuccessful.

* Tiffany Green can be reached by e-mail at tgreen@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.

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