Chamois aldermen voted on Thursday to have City Attorney Amanda Grellner begin the process of garnishing the wages of Julie Walls, the delinquent utility customer against whom the city won a judgment last month. At the previous meeting, aldermen met with Walls and refused to turn on her water until the amount owed was paid in full. 

“She hasn’t made any attempt to pay,” Alderman Jim Wright said. “She wanted her water turned back on and we wouldn’t do it so she ain’t paying. If garnishing her wages doesn’t work, we can put a lien on her house.”

Mayor Elise Brochu reported that another delinquent customer with a balance of $3,438.88, just came into City Hall and paid $500 towards their bill. The customer does not have their water turned on at this point and is not accruing anything new on the account.

Alderman Jeffrey Conner wanted the entire balance paid off within 90 days but Brochu did not think that the customer would be able to make that work.

“Something is better than nothing and the judge wants us to work with people,” Wright said.

Aldermen authorized Brochu to make a reasonable arrangement with the customer.

Brochu and City Clerk Meghan Birmingham put together a list of customers that have set up a payment plan with the city. 

“We have about 20 payment plans right now and only six of them are current,” Brochu said. “Some of them have not kept current and some of them have not paid the amount they were supposed to pay.”

Brochu and Birmingham have put together a letter for all accounts that are not current. The letters will be sent out to customers giving them 10 days to get current or their water will be shut off.

“These accounts were supposed to get shut off the day after they missed a payment on their payment plan but that didn’t happen,” Brochu said. 

Aldermen also authorized Brochu and Birmingham to send a letter to the accounts that are current on their payment plans to thank them for being current and that the city will honor that arrangement if they stay that way.

Aldermen would like to eliminate payment plans except for special circumstances that would have to be approved by the board.

“I’m fine with having a board-approved option,” Alderman Marty Gerloff said. “But as a board, we have to be very, very strict. We’ve been so lenient in the past that everybody expects it.”

“Cutting them off completely is the easiest solution,” Connor argued.

“I think part of the benefit of living in a small town is that we know each other and can make allowances when it is necessary,” Brochu said. “I don’t want to do anything that won’t allow us to help someone who seriously needs help for an understandable reason.”

To change the way payment plans are structured or even to eliminate them, aldermen will have to amend the current ordinance. 

“We will have to talk about this at the next meeting because we have to give people time to come in and talk about it,” Brochu explained. “Next month we will have an amendment to vote on.”

In other business, aldermen voted to have any ordinance violations go through the Osage County Court system. When aldermen voted on this issue last year, the paperwork had been filed to set up a municipal court. The board rejected setting up a municipal court and will continue to file paperwork to have the ordinance running through the county court system.

* City Cleanup Day is scheduled for March 29. Birmingham will investigate the cost of having a dumpster available for bigger items on a different day. Aldermen would like to have a dumpster available to the city residents for the weekend before Chamois Day.

* Aldermen refused a request by a citizen to put a culvert on city property so that he could access his property more easily.

“They do not have an easement,” Wright said. 

* Aldermen approved outstanding bills totaling $7,729.23.

* Chamois had the following account balances: cemetery ($10,206.17), city cemetery ($19,921.69), city park ($2,456.59), general fund ($38,679.45), meter deposits ($22,688.14), sewer ($58,831), sewer bond reserve ($26,583.78), sewer repair ($6,902.62), water ($155,366.49), and water repair ($28,851.78).

* The city has five certificates of deposit totaling $12,066.90.

* Maintenance Supervisor Danny Kirsch thanked Gerloff for covering for him while he was on vacation.

* The next meeting is scheduled for March 16 at 7 p.m.