By: John Zippert, Co-Publisher
Over one hundred angry customers crowded the Greene County Courthouse at the March 26, 2024, meeting of the Greene County Water and Sewer Authority to complain that their most recent March bills were too high.
The three-member board of David Bailey – Union, Chairperson, William Morgan – Dollarhide, and Walter Beck – Forkland, were present. Vincent Atkins, staff manager for the authority and other staff were present.
They first heard a report from Ed Morris, Sentell Engineering, about two major grant projects, each for $900,000 or more, from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for improvements and expansions of the water and sewer systems. These grants are part of President Biden’s Infrastructure Improvement Act funding.
After the engineering report, people in the audience began complaining about recent high water bills they received for the month of March. Christine Carter of Tishabee Community said she received a bill for $787.40 for thousands of gallons of water, when her usual bill is around $80, never over a $100 a month. Marvin Childs said his parents bill in Mt. Hebron Community was $742 for two months and the volume of water used increased from 1,200 to 36,000 gallons. Ms. Blanche Williams was charged over $300 for 29,000 gallons for 53 days. She said, she paid her bill, but her usual bill was around $30 per month.
Willie Austin of the Forkland area said most of the people who got outrageously high bills were senior citizens of low income, living on fixed incomes that could not afford to pay the bills and the Board needed to do something about this problem.
Vincent Atkins and David Bailey, Board Chair, tried to explain the situation. Atkins said that the Water Authority was having difficulties with the electronic interface between the meters and the computer at the office.
Because of these problems, the Authority decided to read the meters manually for the March bills. New self-reporting meters have been ordered.
Atkins said he would meet with customers individually and adjust their bills based on each person’s individual usage records. Some of the meter readings may reflect leaks or water left running during cold weather to keep pipes from freezing. Because of problems with the meters, some customers may have gotten a lower base rate bill, for the past few months, until their meter could be manually read, which could account for some of the increases. The Authority’s base rate for water is $23.71 for the first 2,000 gallons and $3.55 for each additional 1,000 gallons.
Board member William Morgan moved and Board member Walter Beck, seconded a motion, “That the Board null and void all March bills from the Greene County Water Authority.” Morgan said he was going to follow-up this motion with a motion to send new bills to all customers for the lower flat rates they had been paying.
Chair Bailey, after consulting with Barrown Lankster, Legal Counsel for the Authority, who was also present ruled the motion to “null and void all bills” as an illegal motion. Bailey said, “Our attorney has advised that we cannot provide public services – in this case – water, for free. We must charge for the water we provide as a public utility.”
In a subsequent interview, Bailey and Atkins said that 80% of the March bills from 1,400 customers had been already paid. To invalidate all the bills would have been a problem. Atkins said he would meet with customers who had a problem with their bills and adjust them based on usage records.
Board Chairperson Bailey never entertained the motion to null and void all bills because he felt it was illegal. He tried to get Morgan to withdraw the motion or discuss it in an Executive Session, but Morgan refused to withdraw his motion. Attorney Lankster offered to seek an Attorney General’s opinion if the motion was legal.
Near the end of the three-hour meeting, which began at 6:00 PM, Morgan announced that since he and Beck were in favor of the motion and since there were only three voting members of the Board, that his motion had been passed. Morgan proclaimed that his motion and others to send out new lower bills and reprimand Atkins for insubordination had been passed by the Board.
In an interview after the meeting, Bailey said,” Morgan’s motion was illegal. I knew in my heart it was the wrong thing to do. Customers who want to dispute their bills are encouraged to see our staff and get their bills adjusted and sign up for a payment plan if they are unable to pay their total bill.”
