By Sharon K Hall
Mayor Tracy Neice took command of his post with a determination of cutting expenses and finding ways to save the city money. He explained in the first city council meeting of the new year Monday night that within four hours of going over bills he found ways to cut $10,000 from annual expenses. He expects to cut more utility costs. Mayor Neice is checking cell phones, power bills, gas bills, etc. to make sure they are serving the city’s needs.
“I want to know everything we pay on and the physical addresses that go with all the power bills,” said Neice. “I don’t see us paying electric bills for somebody else.”
Councilman Bob Young agreed, “If it is on someone else’s property they should pay it.”
“I asked Tim Blanton of Kentucky Rural Water Association to come talk to us tonight,” relayed the mayor. “We have to get a handle on our water, our leaks and collections — what is owed to us, before we can move forward at this point.”
Blanton began, “Rural Water is a federally funded non-profit organization that (the City of Hindman) are members of. You pay your dues each year so you can attend training sessions and have the ability to call on us with virtually any wastewater or water question.”
He explained that they should start out by doing a comprehensive water analysis. They find out how much water is missing and how to fix it. By just looking at the water situation initially, Blanton guessed they were missing a minimum of three million gallons of water a month. Missing water can result from leaks, theft, or meter inaccuracies.
The council agreed they wanted help from Rural Water in identifying problems and finding fixes. Blanton said the Hindman facility is too large for only two people working water and sewer. Hindman has approximately 855 water and sewer customers.
Neice asked if the Rural Water service would cost anything. Most of the ser-…
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