Columbia Mayor Reed Houston
By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher
Columbia Mayor Reed Houston told the Marion County Informer this afternoon that he thinks city water rates need to be increased.
This morning the mayor and Board of Aldermen met to discuss water rates and passed a motion to cut off customers’ water after two months of nonpayment. Previously, it was “open to interpretation” how long a customer could go without paying his bill before water service was disconnected.
Houston did not elaborate as to why a water rate increase is necessary and would not say how much of an increase he thinks will be required.
The Board of Aldermen met for its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night and approved several travel expenditures for city employees. The aldermen approved sending Police Chief Jim Kinslow to Homeland Security training in Philadelphia, Miss. July 19-22; sending the city clerk and deputy city clerk to training in Hattiesburg for $75 each; sending the city clerk to a women in the workplace conference in Biloxi for $149; and sending two water clerks to Jackson for training for $150.
In other matters, the aldermen tabled waiving the Expo Center fee for the Marion County School District, which wants to use the facility for its Back to School Bash. Board Attorney Lawrence Hahn said he checked with the Attorney General’s Office to see if it would be OK for the city to waive the fees, and the AG said an “intergovernmental waiver” is permitted. However, the city wants to do more research to see how fee waivers at the Expo Center have been handled in the past.
Mayor Houston said he has no problem sharing the city facility with the county but wants to be consistent when it comes to waiving fees for use of the Expo Center.
The aldermen also approved a change order on the Ridgewood sewer project to fix a sewer pipe at the corner of Lafayette and Martin Luther King for $3,200.
In other business, the aldermen approved purchasing a full-page ad in the phonebook for $1,350.
The board also approved appointing Michael McDaniel of MD Electric of Columbia to fill in temporarily for city maintenance supervisor Phillip Peak, who is out of work currently due to a knee injury. Mayor Houston said there is no set fee for what McDaniel will make filling in for Peak, saying he will be paid on a job-by-job basis.
The mayor and aldermen went into closed session to discuss litigation and personnel, but the board did not reveal what action was taken in the executive session. The mayor said the board has a new policy in which sensitive decisions made in closed session will not be made public until those directly involved have been notified of the actions. For instance, when the board votes to terminate an employee the city would like to notify the individual out of courtesy prior to the termination being printed in the press.
We got enough of increases NOW bc of the county school BS & now this. Give us a freaking break…no wonder we cant make it these days!
By now the word is circulating around town, a quiet, but seething outrage in one quarter of the population and uninformed indifference in the other three.
The Mayor and BOA reached a decision, at long last, as to who would fill the late Forrest Dantin’s judicial seat at Municipal Court.
“Litigation and Personnel,” they said? No Joke?
That’s almost – ALMOST – amusing.
It isn’t amusing, however. It’s appalling. The City of Columbia appears to have ripped the federal and state constitutions into shreds, their itty-bitty pieces to be scattered over the oil-slicked waters of the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps, in eulogy to equal protection under the law, equal access to the courts, and for no reason other than it’s catch-all when all else fails – the commerce clauses.
As to the water rate-hike and the heat strokes waiting in the wings of the compassionate City of Columbia? Pfffff-ttttt. Water/Smarter. We’ll at least have ourselves some Homeland Security-trained local law – just in case Bin Laden learns about the Global importance of our local culture, industry and infrastructure.
(They’ll probably go for the water supply . . . . eh? The rate hike could be about security personnel at the treatment plant. . . .)
Typical Columbia Republitard comment, full of speculation and unfounded accusations.
Did you just call me a Republican???
ROTFLMAO
P. S. Unfounded accusations and speculation? I can understand your misjudgment. Friends? *smooch*
wHY DOES THE CITY NEED TO PAY FOR A PHONE AD? THIS IS A WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed this. Aren’t we in the “government pages,” and isn’t every office already in the white pages under “Columbia, City of?”
Is this ad one that will g oin that phone book the newspaper puts out? Seems like a heck of a lot of money to me.
I am very much in favor of training for city employees, but I find it ironic that at the town meeting at City Hall concerning the break-ins, Chief Kinslow stated emphatically that Homeland Security is a huge waste of taxpayer money and that funds have been diverted from local police departments (to their detriment) to help fund Homeland Security. Hmm…..
I don’t want to pay higher water rates. I’m already going to pay more taxes for the schools. I pay enough, and the garbage men can’t even pick up garbage without letting it fall all over my yard and the street. The drain grates are full of grass and trash. Where’s my money going now?
When people mow their grass and rake it off the curb, into the ditch…it makes since that it is going to stop up the drains! If garbage bags are overloaded, placed in bins with rips in them, etc.. the garbage is going to fall out of it. I realize that garbage men are not perfect, but I also realize that the street dept. has a lot to contend with and are not always at fault. I have seen my neighbors pile loose trash in their bins and rake their grass and debris right into the street. So, let’s be honest and stop blaming everything on the city. Your tax dollars provide a modest clean up and garbage collection- it doesn’t provide slaves to pick up after lazy inconsiderate citizens!
They are garbage men-not yard boys.I have never seen them letting trash go all over the street.I’m sure that they can’t stop at every residence where there are torn bags and pickup your scattered trash. That is job for the homeowner. I think the trash men do a great job. Citizens needto take some responsibility.I once had a neighbor who put a load of dirt in the area where the water drains from both our properties.After stopping the water flow, she called the city and complained about the backed up water on her property.
Excuse the pun, but your money is “going down the drain.”
Well, judging from the comments made after my post, my point is proved on one level: the other 3/4 of the citizenry doesn’t seem to give a mouse’s butt about the potential risks inherent in dual-judgeship.enough to be dangerous.
3/4 of these seven posts did not respond to the Judge who’ll wear two hats.
Columbia has just become a Christian Scientist Organization: It will simply run itself.
Typo correction for above post -”since” should have been sense.
Now we have proof city hall has no sense at all. Why are the citizens of Columbia paying for a full page phone book ad ? Is anybody in city hall BRAVE enough to publicly explain the reasoning for WASTING public funds . I doubt there is anybody brave enough to do so . Its been rumored we have a 9 to 5 police administrator not a POLICE CHIEF , city equipment and personnel being used to clean a alderman’s private drive and now a full page ad. And city hall just wants us to pay UP. Its time to wake up and totally clean house at city hall.
Once again, a dry cleaner for mayor, think about it the city of columbia did this to theirselves by voting for him. Those who don’t vote need to start or shut up.
Amen.
I don’t want to pay more for water when my bill for a household of 2 is already higher than my neighbors with a family of 5! Since we’ve had to start mowing this season my meter box has yet to be opened. Mayor, if you are going to let them guesstimate the meters every month then who knows what we’ll be paying for the water we can’t even drink! The drains don’t work, the streets aren’t clean, when they do the jobs they are suppose to do we may want to pay more!
The streets are as clean as I have ever seen them.But that still does not justify a water rate increase.In these economic times we all must tighten our belts. Even though I think the water and street depts. are doing a great job,why should the city take out a useless phone book ad and then hike water rates?Why not at least give that money to folks like the street dept who are doing such a good job?
I Agree why not give to the street dept as well as trash collectors or here a good one Why not give our police officers a much needed raise but i Guess in this town its more important to send a bunch of Clerks to a casino for a week than stopping all these BREAK INS WAY TI GO BOA only in Columbia