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Residents press Cannon Falls council on sharp water and sewer bill increases; staff cites meter-reading delay and rate structure
Summary
Residents told the Cannon Falls City Council in public comment that May utility bills jumped sharply; public works staff said a broken reader antenna delayed monthly reads and explained sewer billing and state-mandated tiered rates. Council agreed to review individual accounts and consider a work session.
Several Cannon Falls residents urged the City Council on June 17 to investigate unusually high May utility bills that one speaker said rose 122 percent.
Resident Joe Gertin told the council he believed some households were billed for a longer period, saying, “it appears that we were billed for 5 weeks.” Resident Sadie Simmons said her May bill reflected “an increase of a 122%” compared with her nine‑month average and said she had been told the city had switched to a five‑week reading cycle without clear notice.
The concerns prompted a detailed staff explanation. Jed (identified in the meeting as public works staff focused on meters) said the city reads meters once a month and that an antenna on the city’s reading equipment had a bad wire and was returning far fewer reads, delaying billing about five days. “The antenna to our reader broke…we reached out to our vendor to get us…
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