By CHRIS MEYERS
Staff writer

In hopes of not hitting residents with unjustly high water bills, the Town of Churubusco is working on an ordinance that would allow for a partial dismissal of the bills on a case-by-case basis.
Town council member John Hart said he would like to have a procedure similar to the one in Columbia City where residents can appeal to the city about high sewer utility bills.
In cases where city officials side with the residents, they are asked to only pay what their average usage has been for the past few months.
If passed, Churubusco’s ordinance would follow similar protocol, but be applied to only the water bills.
“I’m seeing people here with bills of $500 or $600 because of leaks,” Hart said.
Council members agreed that residents should pay the full bill if the leaks were preventable — such as with leaky faucets or toilets.
If the high bills occur from broken pipes when the residents were on vacation, or some other unforeseen situation, residents would be able to appeal their case to the town council.
“If they can prove to us that it was a water line break, then they should pay the average rate,” Hart said.
Council president Viv Rosswurm said many town councils and governments have occasionally granted abatements to residents who appeal high utility bills.
Currently, town utility employees will go to houses with unusually high water bills to check for leaks or causes of the bills that would not be the fault of the resident.
In one recent case, Hart said he could not find the leak, so the business called a plumber who found that a small pipe near the foundation had broken, causing abnormally high water bills.
Council members did not make a decision about the proposal and will wait for Hart to do further research and present the guidelines for the ordinance at a future meeting.
In other business, the council signed off on having local police attend a training course in Chicago regarding interview and interrogation procedures.
Churubusco Town Marshal Chad Fulkerson, and officers Gary Jones and Adam Swinehart will be attending the course.
“That’s an excellent course,” council member Frank Kessler, who is a retired state trooper, said.