Pickering waives sewer bill for church

At the May 1 meeting of the Pickering City Council, discussion was held on the $6,000 water bill of the Pickering Christian Church parsonage.

The council waived the sewer fee on the almost 400,000 gallons of water.

Public Water Supply District No. 1 waived $3,700 of the $6,000 bill. City Clerk Milt Sovereign said he thought the waived amount was the total in sewer fees.

Pickering charges a base rate of $21 in sewer fees, with each additional 1,000 gallons costing $7.

Greg Thompson represented the church at the meeting.

The situation was discovered when the parsonage lawn was mowed for the first time around April 11.

Sovereign disconnected the sewer pump on December 1, 2016, and had taken a meter reading. The water was turned off at that time. No signs of a water leak had been found at the parsonage, so it is assumed that the leak is between the meter and the building. It is unknown how the water was turned back on.

Thompson will speak to the water district officials about reducing the bill and capping the water line into the parsonage. The church itself uses about 90 gallons a month.

Ramona Pennington was sworn in as the fourth alderman. She received nine write-in votes during the April 4 election. This is the first time in six months that Pickering has had four aldermen present at a council meeting.

The ongoing problem with a resident’s two dogs that are allowed to run at-large was discussed. Alderman Kevin Leedom witnessed one of the dogs almost knock over a citizen walking with a cane. The matter has been referred to City Attorney David Baird.

Three tubes that may need to be replaced at the end of Sixth Street have not been checked. Mayor Charles Smith indicated that one of the tubes may belong to the property owner. Because school buses use the street, it was decided to wait until after May 16 to continue the project.

The posts on the community building sign have been replaced. Alderman Brad Judd supplied the posts and Sovereign installed them.