Mount Vernon City Inspector Scott Zimmerman told the Public Utilities Commission during its June 4 meeting that one application for a taxicab business is being processed by the city.
According to a video recording of the meeting, Zimmerman said he told the police department that he was in the middle of revamping the city's application form when he learned an individual had reached out to them to get a permit. That individual was told to reach out to the City Inspector's office, but had not done so. Zimmerman said he'd go to the business location to chat with that person to determine his intent and that a report will be made at the next Public Utilities Commission meeting. "I will make sure that he understands that until he's permitted, he cannot take fares or people around," Zimmerman said when Law Director Rob Broeren said he had seen one of the cabs driving over the weekend, though he didn't know if it was picking up people. "I would like to think he's just been kind of driving it around because he's very enthusiastic. He's looking for more vehicles, I guess," according to a video recording of the meeting.
The commission also heard from two property owners about water bill concerns. Joe Badalamenti said Westgate Mobile Home Park experienced water issues after lines broke during extreme cold weather in winter, leading to significant water loss and increased charges. He asked the commission for forgiveness of those charges. "The water was just running on the ground. I couldn't get the guys out, don't you know, to fix this stuff and turn off water underneath the mobile homes because of the extreme cold, because they're getting wet, that extreme cold, the winds whipping. They ended up with frostbite and everything," Badalamenti said, according to the video recording. "We wanted to address you guys, see if there's some way we could get a break, because vast majority of that water ended up on the ground, not back into the sewage treatment plant or anything," according to a video recording of the meeting.
Safety Service Director Tanner Salyers told Badalamenti they could not take action during this meeting but would add it to July's agenda for consideration. Mike Hillier, owner of properties at 215 and 217 E. Sugar St., raised concerns about new meters installed at his properties resulting in identical bills despite previous meter reads as zero. Public Utilities Director Aaron Reinhardt explained that since they were new meters reading zero, charges carried over from old meters and next month's readings would reflect actual usage. Hillier urged greater transparency from city officials regarding billing practices and referenced changes from unit usage to gallons.
A report on both matters is expected at future meetings.
