Rosston looking into online bill pay

ROSSTON – Customers of the Rosston Rural Water System may soon find it easier to pay their water bill.

The Rosston City Council, at its July meeting Monday night, discussed looking into the option of paying by on line and accepting debit and credit cards. Currently, the city accepts personal and cashier checks for bills, but not cash. However, it was pointed out there would likely be an additional fee, normally charged by the company the city deals with and passed on to customers and a lot of people won’t want to pay an additional fee to use a debit card.

Mayor Dale Quarles said this will be looked into and brought up at the August meeting for the council to decide. This would include the possibility of being able to pay using the city’s website.

In other business, the council was informed the budget is in good shape with a “huge” bill paid off and fewer shut off notices sent out in June. Again, though, customers having problems paying their bill are encouraged to contact the city before their water is shut off as there’s a $50 reconnect fee.

Quarles said he’s still working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the debris portion of the project is done. However, there’s still the issue of dealing with the road damage from the February storm. Quarles told the council he’s finalizing the paperwork on this, though some people have complained. The roads, he added, will be fixed, but people need to be patient as the city’s doing what it can with its street aid funds.

The council also approved setting up a separate bank account for the fire department’s fundraising monies. Quarles pointed out funds raised by the department can’t be added to the Act 833 money it gets from the state as this would be a conflict. Act 833 money, he said, can only be used for certain things and comingling  funds would be problematic. The account will require two signatures before funds can be accessed, but the money can be used by the department as it sees fit.