Tag: APR14

Summer Sewer Cap Begins in May

If you use water outdoors during the summer, HU’s annual summer sewer cap will save you money.

Typically, most of the water a household uses enters the sewer system as wastewater, and like water bills, sewer charges are based on the number of gallons used. However, in the summertime, many residents use water outdoors for gardening, filling pools and washing cars, and this water does not enter the sewer system. For this reason, HU sets a cap for the summer sewer rates, and customers are not charged a sewer fee for water used above the cap.

HU uses the months between November and April to calculate each customer’s winter average, and then caps the customer’s summer sewer rate at 120 percent of that amount.

HU customers who use a great deal of water outdoors year-round might consider an outdoor irrigation meter, says Customer Service Manager Terri Harris. The cost to install a meter is $275; the base monthly rate is $$10.58 plus charges for the water used. However, there is no sewer charge for water received through an irrigation meter.

For more information, call HU’s Customer Service Department at (256) 773-3340.

Hate Surprise Spikes in Utility Bills? Try Levelized Billing

The extreme weather during the winter months created extreme spikes in many HU customers’ utility bills. You can guard against large monthly fluctuations with Levelized Billing. Levelized Billing is based on a rolling 13-month average: your current usage is averaged with the previous 12 months’ billing. As a result, your billing total will change slightly every month instead of drastic seasonal fluctuations, even in the hottest or coldest months of the year. And if the calculated 13-month average is over 120 percent more than your previous month’s bill, the bill will be capped at 120 percent, and the overage spread out over time as needed.

There is no annual reconciliation with Levelized Billing; the only time you need to reconcile your account is if you move to another location or decide to stop using the program.

“With Levelized Billing, customers will pay more during the Spring and Fall,” explains HU Customer Service Manager Terri Harris. “But they will have more consistent payments year-round. And while the 120 percent cap is there as a safeguard to prevent huge jumps, we don’t have to use it very often. It is rare for a customer to have that large of a shift in their 13-month average,” she says.

For more information and to request an enrollment form, call HU at (256) 773-3340 or send an email to Customer Service Manager Terri Harris at tharris@hartselleutilities.org

New Faces & Promotions at Hartselle Utilities

Jonathan Kilpatric
Jonathan Kilpatric

Adam Overton
Adam Overton

Lane Reagin
Lane Reagin

Wade Sims
Wade Sims

HU has welcomed four new employees recently. Jonathan Kilpatric was hired in September as an Installer in the Construction Department; Adam Overton started in January as an Electric Lineman; Lane Reagin began in February as an Electric Groundman; and Wade Sims was hired as a new Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator in March.

Ryan Halbrooks
Ryan Halbrooks

In addition, in December Ryan Halbrooks was promoted from Meter Reader to TV Inspection Operator in the Wastewater Department.

Congratulations to Ryan and our new employees.

Get Rid of Unused Prescription Drugs Safely During Take Back Day

Got-Drugs-Banner-Hartselle2014Do you have expired or unused prescription drugs in your home? On Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., bring your unwanted prescription drugs to the Pizza Hut parking lot on Hwy. 31 SW, and they will be safely disposed of, no questions asked.

“Prescription drugs are the most abused drugs, period,” says Hartselle Police Chief Ron Puckett. And according to a report released in October by the Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit organization in Washington that studies health policy, the number of drug overdose deaths in Alabama has tripled since 1999. Then, there were 3.9 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people; that number has grown to 11.8 per 100,000, giving Alabama the 26th highest drug overdose mortality rate in the United States. The TFAH report found that nationally about 6.1 million people abuse prescription pills, and overdose deaths have at least doubled in 29 states, where they now exceed vehicle-related deaths.

Just as alarming, a 2013 study from The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation found that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once. “And we have found that most people who take prescription drugs out of someone’s medicine cabinet are family members,” says Chief Puckett.

Health officials used to recommend disposing of unused or expired prescription drugs by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash. That is no longer considered to be an environmentally-safe option. Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove pharmaceuticals from the wastewater stream. Medicines in the wastewater stream and in landfills can end up in public water supplies, posing potential safety and health hazards.

To provide a safe way to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs – and keep them out of the hands of those who might abuse them – the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration coordinates the annual Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

According to Sue Brantley, Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Morgan County, participation in the local Take-Back Day has increased over the last several years. “They have collected everything imaginable – from liquids, cough medicines and pills to pain medications. You can drop off anything except needles and other sharps,” she explains. “We encourage everyone to take a close look at what is in your medicine cabinet – you don’t want to be an unwitting supplier to your children, grandchildren or friends, and you can help prevent prescription drug abuse by safely disposing of your unused or expired medications,” Brantley says.

For more information, call (256) 351-4816.

Hartselle Leaders Presents Area Priorities in Washington

In early February community representatives from Hartselle and Morgan County traveled to Washington DC for their annual trip to present members of Congress with a federal legislative agenda, outlining federal funding needs and priorities for the area. The group met with Rep. Mo Brooks, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Sen. Richard Shelby and staff from Rep. Robert Aderholt’s office.

The top priority during this year’s visit was to request support for the region’s efforts to obtain a FEMA grant providing Pre-Disaster Mitigation funding for flood control. The city plans to request $300,000, with Hartselle providing a 25 percent local match of $100,000, to build a second retention pond on the west side of the railroad tracks.

The city received $245,000 in funding in 2010 for flood mitigation, and construction on the first retention pond is expected to begin late this year.

Community leaders have asked members of Congress for help with flood mitigation in previous conversations, but Hartselle Mayor Don Hall says that the July 4 flood – the second in four years – helped to move the issue to the top of Hartselle’s priority list.

“The July 4 flood was a major event, and it affected our downtown businesses economically,” says Mayor Hall. “It had a serious impact on their bottom lines. And with the streets all but impassable, it became a safety issue. In that situation, it is difficult for emergency vehicles to get from the East side of town to the West,” he explains.

Mayor Hall feels confident that Hartselle will be able to receive assistance from FEMA when funds become available. Other projects that the group discussed with the Congressional delegation include:

  • Continued support and funding for the Hwy. 36 extension and widening
  • Right-of-Way acquisition and utility relocation along Thompson Road
  • Funding for Hartselle Utilities’ Waste Water Treatment Plant for engineering and construction should the Environmental Protection Agency mandate lower effluent limits
  • Assistance in obtaining a waiver from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requirement that Hartselle purchase stream mitigation rights near the landfill
  • Continued efforts to construct new access roads and extend utilities to the new Morgan Center Business Park
  • The Medicare Wage Index and its impact on Alabama hospitals
  • Federal funding for new fire fighting equipment
  • Funding for Emergency Warning Sirens
  • A feasibility study to extend the runway at the Hartselle-Morgan County Regional Airport.