Sigourney council forgives $303.60 sewer charge, grants six-month repayment after residents report large leak

The Sigourney City Council on Aug. 6 voted to forgive a $303.60 OM charge on the utility bill of local residents Karson Weber and Sadie Sieren and approved a plan allowing them to pay the remaining balance in monthly installments over six months.

The action followed testimony from Weber and Sieren, who said the household’s recent bill reflected roughly 50,000 gallons of water after a leak in the main line running to their meter pit. "50,000 gallons of water is an insane amount of water," Weber said. Sieren said the city’s high-usage monitoring system did not catch the problem sooner: "If the system that the city uses to monitor high water usage was working then the leak would have been caught sooner."

Mayor Jimmy Morlan noted that the city ordinarily does not excuse payments, but council members discussed the circumstances and the technical details reported by Public Works Director I Don Northup. Northup said the break occurred where a 1-inch line met a 3/4-inch line above a storm sewer and that the leak did not surface; crews had to dig more than six feet to locate flowing water. "Normally that leak would have come to the surface, but it was the worst-case scenario," Northup said, and he confirmed that pressure and bacteria testing were completed for recent water-main work in other parts of town.

Council Member Conrad moved to forgive the $303.60 OM charge and to allow Weber and Sieren to repay the remainder in monthly payments; Council Member Clark seconded the motion, which passed with all members voting in favor. Council Member Schultz and others sought clarification on billing details during the discussion; Northup confirmed that while the $303.60 OM charge would be removed, the measured water amount (listed separately as WA) — about $322.55 — represented water that passed through the meter and remained on the bill.

Weber asked whether his meter pit could be moved to his property so he could access it directly; Council Member Conrad said the question would be discussed at a committee meeting. The council’s vote forgave the OM charge but did not move or order a meter relocation at the Aug. 6 meeting.

The council took the vote as part of its additional city business items; no formal appeal or audit of the meter reading was recorded during the meeting. Next steps noted by council members were committee consideration of line relocation and ongoing coordination with Public Works on leak-detection and billing procedures.