West Point adds late fee to sewer rate

May 18—WEST POINT — The West Point Town Council passed a motion to add a late fee and a small increase to its sewer rates during Monday evening's meeting.

The rate increase would be for 10 percent across the board, and an amount for the late fee will be discussed in a future meeting.

The town will have to amend its sewer ordinance to make the changes official. Town Attorney Dan Willingham was unable to attend Monday's meeting, but attorney Matt Carter attended in his place and told Mayor Gerald Schafer that Willingham would reach out to him Tuesday to begin working on the amendment to the ordinance.

The town's base residential sewer rate is $19 per month and the small business and nonprofit rates are $35 per month, so the 10 percent increase will not add up to a much larger bill for customers, Schafer said.

It has been 11 years since the town's rates were raised, and while the increase will not bring the town much closer to breaking even on its sewer, the main reason for the change is to add a late fee to the ordinance, he said.

"There's no incentive to pay and we've had several that have taken advantage of that," he said.

The council also passed a resolution to apply for a Cullman County Community Development Commission grant to help pay for the repair of the retaining wall at the town's ball field that is beginning to sag because of groundwater.

"It's not going to straighten itself back up," Schafer said.

The council passed the resolution with a request for emergency consideration because of the safety hazard that the wall poses if it fails.

Schafer said the ball field's infield will also need to be raised by bringing in dirt or clay, because it is lower than the outfield and water is pooling in the front of the field. He said the council can discuss another grant application for that project at next month's meeting.

"We're going to have to do something with it," he said.