Rosston water rate hike starts in July

By Staff, 06/9/20 9:03 AM

ROSSTON – Customers of the Rosston Rural Water System will see an increase in their July water bills.

Several months ago the Rosston City Council voted to increase the rate by 70 cents per 1,000 gallons to help pay for improvements to the system. At the June meeting of the council, Rosston Mayor Dale Quarles reminded them it would be going into effect next month. In the meantime, letters are being written and mailed out to let customers know of the increase. The money brought in from the rate hike, he said, will be placed in the depreciation fund.

The council also voted to have a website built for the city. Quarles said a lot of cities are going to them, and this one will allow residents to pay their water bills online. The service, he told the council, is being offered through Municipal Impact and will cost $349 up front and $49.95 a month thereafter. He pointed out being able to pay online doesn’t mean people can’t still come by city hall and drop their bills in the box, but does give them another option.

“Everybody I’ve talked to wants it,”  he said. “It’s a good form of communication.” The site will also contain information about the community as well as recordings of the council meetings. There will also be a spot where people can submit questions and notify the city of any problems they’re having as well as making it easier for residents to keep up with what the city’s doing.

He told the council there’s a lot of options as to the design and background, and he’ll be looking at one that’s appealing. “It’ll be a good thing.”

Members of the council asked if there would be any cost to residents using the site and were told no, the $49.95 monthly subscription fee the city pays covers everything.

Quarles closed reminding the council the COVID-19 pandemic is anything but over. He pointed out the governor mentioned Nevada County now having 59 confirmed cases since restrictions have eased up. “We’ve  been going good to keep it out of this area,” he said, “and it never became an outbreak, but it only takes one person getting comfortable and going out. People still need to take precautions. They need to take them now more than ever.”

He reminded the council when the pandemic started people did what was needed to avoid it spreading, but now people have gotten comfortable as restrictions have been lifted and the virus has spread. He added, one infected person could have been in contact with a lot of people.