Clearmont board discusses water billing issues

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Members of the Clearmont Board of Aldermen stand outside of the meeting space at the Clearmont Housing Complex after May’s meeting. At the June board meeting, aldermen discussed water billing.

CLEARMONT, Mo. — The following are notes from the minutes of the Clearmont Board of Aldermen’s regular meeting held June 17, at the Clearmont Housing Complex.

• Clearmont Water Clerk Dianna Logan reported that a new drop box has been installed at her residence, 422 S. Pine St., and is now available for those who wish to drop off their payments. She said the digital water billing system still has “minor system bugs” that are being addressed, but that it is largely functional.

• Logan requested that the city establish clear guidelines for when water bill payments must be made in full. She recommended that information be shared with residents via the city’s social media and through direct correspondence. For more than six months, the city did not send out water bills due to difficulties with the new water billing system and the company that provides it. At least one resident took to social media, posting to the city’s Facebook page asking for the city to set up and accept payment plans for the six months’ worth of payments that most residents were not able to make.
• The city held a closed session, which it reported was for the purpose of “discussing individually identifiable customer usage and billing records for Clearmont Water customers.”
• Clearmont City Clerk Linda Babcock reported that the Missouri Ethics Commission requested the city’s 2025 annual operating budget and that she filed the information for the annual report.
• With regard to streets, the board discussed a ditch on Sycamore Street that was cleaned.
• Meeting minutes note that a stop sign that the Missouri Department of Transportation was supposed to reinstall has yet to be installed. The city plans to follow up and see it is replaced.
• A digital speed sign was briefly installed by law enforcement, according to meeting minutes. It was later removed.
• Mowing at the city lagoon has been completed. The pivot system, which distributes effluent, still needed to be connected.