Holly Pond council

HOLLY POND — Rresidents who are a part of the town’s sewer system will soon be paying a little more for their sewer service. 

The Holly Pond Town Council passed a resolution on Monday to begin enforcing an ordinance that was originally passed nearly eight years ago.

Mayor Bill Oliver brought the resolution before the council, and explained that it was first passed on June 7, 2010. The ordinance adjusted sewer rates at the time, and also said rates would increase by 5 cents a year beginning in 2015.

During Monday’s meeting, Oliver said the rate increase should have started in 2015, but the town has not been enforcing it for the past three years. 

“We have it on our books,” he said.

He said that three-year gap in enforcement means that Holly Pond residents who are on the town’s sewer system will see a 15-cent increase in their monthly bills.

“We were left with not much choice,” he said. “We either had to enforce the law or the council had to go back and nullify the law.”

The town also had the option of collecting the additional sewer fees that were not collected over the last three years, but Oliver said he and the rest of the town council did not believe Holly Pond residents should be forced to pay for something that the town failed to collect.

“I’m not in favor of doing that,” he said. “This town failed to enforce the rule and did not collect it.”

 

Tyler Hanes can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 138.