New meters causing water bills to increase in Williamsburg

If you live in Williamsburg and have an old water meter, then chances are you will be seeing a higher water bill this month or next thanks to new the city’s new water meters, which can be read electronically.

"Just get ready. Your bills are probably going to go up," Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison warned during a special called city council meeting Monday. "I am expecting mine to go up as well."

Harrison said that those with the oldest meters would probably be seeing the largest bill increases because the older meters are far less accurate than the new meters currently being installed in town.

Out of the city’s 1,600 water accounts, officials with Harshaw Trane told the council in December that 90 percent of those were meters at least 10 years old or more and that most water meters start decreasing in accuracy after a decade in use. The new meters are guaranteed to be accurate for 20 years.

Another reason water customers will likely see a higher bill is that older water meters didn’t start reading accurately until eight gallons a minute started pumping through while the new meters start at a gallon or half of one gallon.

About 90 percent of the new water meters that the city has purchased have now been installed. Harrison said workers have temporarily stopped installing the meters while they wait for new material to arrive.

The rest of the new meters should be installed by late July or early August.

Harrison also cautioned people against trying to turn their water meters on and off themselves rather than calling the city.
The city charges a flat $10 fee to turn off the water and turn it back on if you wanted to turn your water off for a week while you are on vacation for instance.

He said the city has already had one person break their water meter while trying to turn water flow off and it costs between $250 and $300 for a new residential meter that the homeowner was responsible for purchasing.

Williamsburg City Clerk Teresa Black said there is no charge if a plumber needs the water turned off to fix a leak.

Harrison encouraged residents to have their own water cut-off valve installed on their property.

During Monday’s special called meeting, Harrison also announced that the city has qualified for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding to partially pay for a slide repair on Campbell Hill but the cost to fix the road is still expected to cost the city several thousand dollars.

Harrison said that the road, which was built on the site of an old slide, is steadily washing away affecting residents who live in the seven homes on top of the hill.

"The people who live on top of the hill, pretty soon won’t be able to get in or get off," he said.

He said that an engineer would have to determine how best to fix the road, such as driving steel rods or beams into the side of the hill and compacting the dirt.

Harrison said that some estimates have the repair costing at least $250,000.

The city learned nearly two weeks ago that it qualified for FEMA funding to help repair the road, but it will only reimburse the city for 75 percent of the repair costs.

It’s possible the city could also get 13 percent of the repair costs paid for by the state transportation cabinet but this would still leave the city responsible for 12 percent of the repair costs.

Williamsburg has been allocated $101,785 in state municipal road aid money, but Harrison said a large chunk of that funding might have to be used on the Campbell Hill repair.

Harrison said that the state sets aside 3 percent of all municipal road aid money into an emergency account that cities can apply for on an as needed basis.

He said the city will probably apply for funding through this program to help pay for repairs but don’t know how much the city could receive from that fund.

The city council unanimously approved a resolution Monday adopting and approving the municipal road aid money co-op program contract for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

The agreement allows the city to receive 60 percent of the funding up front when there is good weather to do outdoor paving projects, like road blacktopping and sidewalk construction.

The city had initially hoped to repair or replace some sidewalks this year, but Harrison said this effort might get delayed until next year with the money going to pay for the Campbell Hill repair.

In other business, the council:

• Discussed the RV campground at the Kentucky Splash Waterpark. Councilwoman Laurel West inquired whether the campground had a storm shelter and when she was told that it didn’t, she suggested giving waterpark keys to the police department, which could open the park to be used as a storm shelter in the event of an emergency.
Harrison said this is something officials hadn’t thought about but was a good idea.

• Discussed the theft of flowers from local cemeteries. West said she got a text recently from someone who had a flower wreath that cost over $100 stolen from Highland Park Cemetery.

West asked if police could make extra patrols in the area and encouraged people to be on the lookout for such activity and report it to police.

"Everybody is going to have to be vigilant about watching," Harrison added.

• Discussed the city alcohol tax and whether the city had to publish a report quarterly in the local newspaper.

Councilman Richard Foley said he had received an inquiry about the issue recently.

Harrison said that he didn’t think the city had to publish a report quarterly but said he would check on the matter and start publishing it if it is required.

Black said that the alcohol tax only brings in about $2,200 annually.

Currently the only restaurant serving alcohol in town is El Palenque but El Dorados has an application for a liquor license pending.

• Discussed the 10th Street road project, which includes widening the road between Briar Creek Park and the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center in addition to raising that portion of the roadway out of the flood plain.

This section of road closed to traffic on June 1 and even with recent weather delays is still expected to reopen by Aug. 1, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.