Mt. Vernon Register-News

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December 25, 2009

RLCD to sue Sesser for back payments

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

BENTON — The Rend Lake Conservancy District will be pursuing court action against the city of Sesser to receive back payments that have not been paid for water.

“They have been paying their bill, but less by $5,000,” RLCD General Manager Keith Thomason said. “They owe us approximately $30,000, which includes their current bill. They will certainly make a payment on that.”

Officials in Sesser claim they are being billed for water they are not receiving because the city water meter is bad, a claim that is disputed by the district.

“We have done meter tests,” Thomason said. “The meter is good. We’ve had third party tests on the meter. We had third party tests in 2005, 2007 and 2008. The meter was good in ‘05 and ‘07, bad in ‘08, so we replaced it and it is good in ‘09.”

The RLCD earlier this week authorized Thomason and district attorney Larry Sanders to “use the courts to obtain payment.”

“I speak with the mayor and we have a good working relationship with the city,” Thomason said. “They understand our position, they just don’t agree with it. They also understand that sometimes when you have a disagreement on a situation, you have to have the courts step in and take care of it.”

According to RLCD board member Jere Shaw, the city of Sesser claims the district owes it $160,000, but has stated it is willing to settle with the district for $80,000.

This is the second time this year there has been a question about metering of water to municipalities. The city of Benton claimed the district had overcharged it by $150,000, and after measuring the meter, it was determined there were no problems and the flow was accurate. However, the board decided to settle out of court with Benton for $37,000.

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