Corbin Utilities Commission considering suspending disconnections, waiving late fees

The Corbin Utilities Commission is considering several steps to help area residents in light of the coronavirus.

At a special called commission meeting to be held at 4:30 p.m. today, the commissioners are scheduled to consider waiving the credit card fees and late fees, suspending the disconnection of services for nonpayment, giving employees additional sick leave, and authorizing the general manager to close the lobby if any coronavirus cases are diagnosed locally.

“We feel like it is the right thing to do,” said General Manager Ron Herd.

Customers are currently charged two percent of the amount to use a credit or debit card to pay a utility bill.

Utility bills are due on the 15^th of each month. Herd said if a bill is not paid by the 21^st of the month, the service is ordered disconnected.

“When all of this is over, we will work out a repayment plan with customers,” Herd said.

While employees do accrue sick leave, Herd said the commissioners will consider providing additional time to ensure an employee will be covered should the employee contract the coronavirus and be forced into quarantine.

Current Center for Disease Control recommendations call for an individual diagnosed with the virus to be quarantined for 10 to 14 days.

While the Corbin Utilities lobby remains open for business at the moment, Herd said there is a contingency should the virus reach the area.

“We will close it if we start seeing cases around here,” Herd said, adding that employees are separated from customers by a glass partition and are wiping down the counters twice a day.

As of Tuesday, 25 people across Kentucky have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

Fayette and Jefferson County each have seven, Harrison County has six, and Montgomery County has two. Nelson, Clark and Bourbon County each have one.

The Bourbon County case has been Kentucky’s lone fatality, though Governor Andy Beshear said the virus was not the only factor in the man’s death.