ROCHELLE — At its meeting Monday, the Rochelle City Council unanimously approved two changes to its Rochelle Municipal Utilities billing policies. 

The first was the adoption of a water leak credit policy. Water leaks impact both RMU's system and customers that may incur additional costs as a result of undetected leaks on their properties. RMU's new policy includes a provision for offering credits to customers that promptly report and address leaks at their service address. 

If a residential customer experiences a water leak, the customer may apply for a water leak credit. In order to qualify for a water leak credit, the customer must fill out a form and provide documentation, have a new water meter installed that complies with the city's automated leak alert system, be enrolled to receive leak alerts on the RMU customer portal, and provide proof that the leak has been repaired. 

Credits will be issued based upon the customer’s average monthly usage. The city will credit 100 percent of the water and water reclamation charges above the user’s monthly average. A maximum of two months will be considered for purposes of the credit. Accounts are only eligible for one credit every five years.

All water leak credits must be signed off on by the superintendent of water/water reclamation and city manager before being applied to a customer’s account. The city manager may also approve credits on a case-by-case basis including situations involving extenuating circumstances or unmet qualifications.

The council also approved an amendment to its Person Responsible for Charges policy. The wording will now say “Anyone residing at the premises, or named on the lease for the premises shall be considered a consumer”. The RMU billing office sees many scenarios where multiple tenants reside at a residence and are listed on the same lease. The clarification will assist the billing office in ensuring that customers cannot avoid paying for utility services despite being a consumer of the utilities.

Planer

The council unanimously approved a resolution to purchase a new cold planer for its street department for $41,890. The planer will be used for preparing road surfaces before sealcoating by removing displacements and deteriorated sections of pavement. The city's current planer model is 17 years old and smaller than the new model.

The council also waived competitive bidding to carry out the purchase, which Street Department Superintendent Tim Isley said was due to the specificity of the piece of equipment. The new model will improve efficiency for the department due to its larger size and ability to leave milled materials to the left or right of trenches.

SOTC

Mayor John Bearrows and City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh will host a State of the Community address at City Hall on Tuesday, March 19 at 2 p.m. The address will also be live streamed on Facebook.