Kingsland Tables Raising Water Fees

KINGSLAND - The Kingsland City Council decided to table a proposal to raise the water connection fee from $200 to $500 so it would have a chance to review the water department’s finances first.Also, the city council officially accepted the resignation of council member Sandra Laws, who submitted a letter stating that other obligations prompted her to step down.Betty Graham, manager for the Kingsland Water Office, told the city council during its regular monthly meeting last Thursday that the water department is having issues with renters running up water bills beyond the $200 connection fee and then failing to pay those outstanding balances once they leave. She suggested the city consider raising the connection fee to $500 to give the department a chance to recoup those unpaid bills.Graham said there has always been an ongoing issue with renters leaving outstanding water bills behind, adding that the city used to double the connection fee for renters. However, City Attorney Thomas Burns, who was at the meeting, said that is probably not an option since it could be considered discriminatory against renters.There was also discussion of possibly holding the owners of rental property liable for unpaid water bills, but Thomas Burns said that also would not be an option since the bills are not legally in their name.After the discussion, council member Linda Burns spoke up about the $500 connection, stating that she thought it was “a little bit too steep.”Council member Burns said she would like to see what kind of outstanding balances the water department has before making a decision on increasing the fee. On that, the city council decided to table the matter until next month to allow Graham to get that information together.ResignationLaws was not at last Thursday night’s council meeting, and her letter of resignation was read by Mayor Karen Wiscaver. She was appointed to the Ward 2, Posit...