A new ordinance that requires all residents within city limits to connect to the city water and sewer systems upset many of the 17 families affected, and they voiced their displeasure Monday night at the Verndale City Council meeting.
Mayor Wayne Stave greeted the group during the meeting and diffused the conflict. Recognizing fellow residents -- and two former mayors -- in the crowd, Stave told them to disregard the letters they had recently received via registered mail that told them they'd be forced to connect to city services.
"I think we need to have to maybe back off of this," Stave said.
He explained the new requirement was part of a land use ordinance passed in January that dealt with everything from outlawing strip clubs to city service hookups. It was breaking new ground for the city.
"We had nothing in place," Stave said.
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Stave said the city wasn't just thinking about its own coffers when it passed the ordinance.
"It's a health and safety thing," Stave said. "The city's got to look out for the welfare of everybody."
The mayor was referring to nitrate tests of area wells, which had shown levels as high as 20 parts per million. Anything higher than 10 is considered unsafe. One of the residents in attendance Monday, however, said he had recently had his well tested and had only 7 parts per million.
"You're lucky," Stave said.
Other residents objected to the use of additives chlorine and flouride in city water -- while some objected to the cost. A Verndale water bill is at least $24.90 per month and averages around $42 per month, said Jim Bergquist, the city's maintenance supervisor.
While upset audience members remarked that only 17 residents wouldn't make much of a difference to the city's intake of water and sewer funds, at $42 per month, the total for the 17 residents would be $8,568. That's money that could be used to maintain and improve the city water and sewer system.
Stave said the city will revisit the issue and sit down with the residents to come to an amicable resolution. Some suggested they be grandfathered in with the law, or that the new ordinance only apply to future homeowners once they sold their homes.
