City Trying To Get All Delinquent Accounts Current
By Jessica Wald
The Napoleon City Council agreed at the regular city meeting last Monday, March 3, they need to abide by the city ordinance and turn off overdue water users water supply. It was reported by the city auditor, Colleen Fettig, that about 30 city utility accounts are delinquent/late.
Council members present for the regular meeting included Mayor Todd Moss, Rod Kleppe, Bob Humann, Rich Bjerklie, Mike Heying and Clark Haas, while John Wald was absent.
The council has discussed delinquent accounts in the past and threw around ideas on how to get those past due to a current status. They said they previously approved abiding by the ordinance and turning off water to those delinquent accounts, then charging a $100 turn off fee, along with a $100 turn on fee. The auditor said the accounts that are behind on payments can’t afford to pay their overdue bills in full, along with the extra $200 and she said they have tried negotiating a monthly pay schedule with those who are delinquent, but they say they will come back and pay more, but just continue to fall more behind. Council members said it’s hard to turn off water when they know children are in the house, but also noted other utilities, such as electricity, gets shut off when an account is delinquent. It was also noted in the winter months, it can take 2-3 hours to shut off someone’s water, due to ice, snow and other factors. After discussion the council said they will make residents aware of the ordinance that is already in place. They plan to abide by this ordinance and turn off utilities if they are unpaid and continue with the extra fees to turn off and turn on. They agreed the ordinance is set in place, to also be fair to those residents who do pay for the services on time.
In other business the council discussed how a couple residents had frozen water pipes and. . .