By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
It’s not that payments of any kind are unwelcome.
But customers who for years have paid in person and in cash at the Town of Waterford Sanitary District office are being encouraged not to show up with cash in hand anymore.
Instead, put a check in the mail, or use the district’s on-line bill payment method.
Handing over cash (or even bringing in a check to deliver) in person adds to WSD administrative operating costs, “which ultimately is passed on to customers in the form of user fees,” explained Dan Dickinson, the WSD board president.
Commissioners discussed customer payment methods at their Aug. 14 monthly meeting, in lieu of the departure of long-time WSD Administrator Debbie Nelson, who either quit or was laid off in July, depending on who you talk to.
A state unemployment claim filed by Nelson is currently being investigated by state officials to determine her eligibility for unemployment benefits.
Since Nelson left, WSD office hours at the Town Hall have been cut to 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Thursday, with existing part-time employee staffing.
But commissioners also agreed Aug. 14 that if any customer still wants to hand-deliver a payment during WSD office hours, a staff member will continue to accept it.
During non-office hours, a secure WSD drop box at the Town Hall should be used. But customers are strongly urged to make payment into the drop box by check rather than with cash, Dickinson noted.
For now and into the foreseeable future, the current four-mornings-per-week office hours schedule is expected to continue, said Dickinson.
At the WSD Aug. 14 meeting, Town Clerk Tina Mayer took down the meeting notes, working for WSD as an independent contractor. In the past, that was Nelson’s job as a staff person.
Town and WSD officials recently discussed the possibility of town personnel helping out during the day by accepting WSD payments at the clerk’s office in the Town Hall.
But town officials have indicated they prefer to avoid any involvement in WSD duties, Dickinson said.
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