N.Baltimore flooded with water-sewer complaints

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NORTH BALTIMORE – A group of frustrated residents aired concerns at Tuesday’s council meeting over a
spike in their water/sewer bills.
"When is this going to end," questioned one resident. "It’s like we are living in a
dictatorship and you are telling us how much we are going to pay for our water bill. It’s
outrageous," he said.
Last month, council approved an increase for sewer billing, but anticipated the increase would be about
$10 more per month, per household.
The increase was made to pay for the second phase of the sewer separation project.
However, residents said that their bills increased between $30 and $60. Their usage has also increased
dramatically, by a couple thousand gallons, despite maintaining a similar routine, they said.
"The feeling of the public is that you guys are just picking random people and raising their water
bill," said one of the residents.
Council member Aaron Patterson said council was told the increase would be about $10 per month.
"Evidently, that’s not what’s happening here and that’s what we need to figure out," Patterson
said.
"I’m sorry about the rates. I’ve been getting beat up by them, too. We are going to look at this and
we will have meeting about this," Patterson said.
"People can’t afford this. That’s the bottom line," Patterson said.
Council member Bill Cameron said he had also received many complaints prior to Tuesday’s meeting.
"For all of the many complaints I’ve heard over the last few days, it seems people are more upset
over the usage as opposed to the cost. The usage seems to be going up dramatically without an
explanation," Cameron said.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, council:
• Accepted the resignation of former part-time EMS chief Eric Larson. On April 15, Larson was offered the
full-time, interim EMS chief position, but he declined the offer and took another position.
"I would just like to say that I think this was handled very inappropriately," council member
Leslee Thompson said.
"I don’t know anything that’s happened," Patterson responded.
"None of us do," Cameron said.
Council later went into executive session to discuss personnel and the EMS chief position was planned for
discussion.
Following the executive session, an offer was made to Fire Chief Ted Francisco to be acting EMS chief.
The offer is pending his acceptance.
Council also agreed to advertise for additional medical personnel assistance between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

• Approved a three-year agreement to provide fire fighting services to Henry Township. The contract is
retroactive to Jan. 1, 2013.
• Entered into a one-year agreement for a reverse emergency notification system at a cost not to exceed
$3,000.

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