Council Settles With Allied Waste To Stay Out Of Court; Agrees To Take Flomaton Sewage

July 8, 2008

The Town of Century will settle an overpayment issue with Allied Waste out of court, collecting half the amount the town says Allied owes.

Mayor Freddie McCall told the town council Monday night that Allied had been billing the town for 753 residential customers when the actual number of customers was 694.

The difference led to Allied billing $88,000 the town said it did not owe. McCall said he and the town’s attorney, Matt Dannheisser, sat down recently with Allied in an attempt to settle the issue out of court.

“They did not want to take responsibility for that (incorrect) house count,” McCall said. The two sides eventually agreed to split the difference, with Allied paying half the amount the town said they owed.

The council voted 5-0  to accept the $44,000 settlement from Allied.

“It’s better to accept that than lost everything,” Council member Nadine McCaw said.

In other business, the council voted 4-1 to enter into an agreement with the Town of Flomaton to provide sewer service to the state line for a new trailer park in Flomaton.

Mathis Trailer Park is planned for the north side of the street known as  Alley 5, just feet north of the Alabama state line in Flomaton. Flomaton does not have sewer service available south of the railroad tracks near the state line. Under a proposal from Flomaton, that town would provide individual sewer connections for the five planned trailers on the lot, and they would run a line to the state line. At the state line, Flomaton’s sewer line would connect to a line from Century.

The sewage flow from Flomaton would be paid for by the Town of Flomaton, with Flomaton billing the trailer park owner. If the trailer park owner did not pay Flomaton, Flomaton would still pay Century for the sewage, Century Mayor Freddie McCall said. In addition, the Town of Century would receive a $1,000 connection fee for each of the five trailers, and $1,000 each for additional trailers added to the park in the future.

The proposal has already been approved by the Flomaton Town Council.

“I am against going across the state line,” Council member Anne Brooks said.

Brooks questioned why the mayor had spent $1,400 without the council’s approval to have the legal agreement prepared by Dannheisser.

“We spent $1,400 for this agreement,” Brooks said. “What if we voted against it? That would $1,400 thrown away.”

“I thought it was an administrative decision,” the mayor said. “And I stand to be corrected if I need to be.”

The council also discussed damage to Industrial Boulevard that was caused by a contractor cleaning up debris after Hurricane Ivan. The contractor had agreed, according to the mayor, to repair the road before leaving town. They did not, and now McCall’s calls and emails to the company are not being returned, he said.

The council voted 5-0 to turn the matter over to the town’s attorney.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News