Water rates committee meets

The Water Rates Committee looked at the costs for the industry and commercial side of the city during a meeting Monday.

The water meters have officially turned on as of  Tuesday and Chair George Maroosis says they like the numbers based on paying related to the size of the water pipe. However, he says they have to have a number of special meetings with some businesses who may not be able to afford to pay with that method.

He says “I think we can find a way to accommodate this thing and be fair just by looking at how much cubic meters are we talking about, how much money are we talking about?”

Maroosis says they can’t name those businesses in public, but the committee could look into providing a volume discount for those businesses.

He says they don’t want to see people lose jobs because of water meters.

He adds they have set the rates in their budget for 2015, but are open to making adjustments next year.