To better reflect the costs incurred when Woodard and Curran staff are required to respond outside or normal working hours while continuing to provide efficient service to Monmouth residents, the Public Works Department proposed to City Council a policy change of establishing a $150 after-hours service call fee, explains Operations Director Ken Helms:
“A lot of times they get phone calls that are after-hours. It could be they have low water pressure. We generally try and inform them that this could be a water softener issue or it could be some other kind of appliance that is causing the issues. What they have found is that after-hours, primarily on the weekends and late at night, sometimes they have to go to actual residences and look at it and then it turns out it is a plugged softener,” states Helms.
“There is a cost to our labor and it has kind of put a strain on the budget. What Director Bledsoe requested was that we change the policy to be able to allow for an after-hours service call fee if it is not a city issue there. Council did approve that and that would be $150 after-hours service fee. Of course, the residents would always be warned that may happen,” Helms adds.
Under the Monmouth Public Works Department’s fee structure, customers are charged a $25 new account turn-on fee, a $50 reconnect fee during normal business hours, a $150 after-hours reconnect fee, and a newly established $150 after-hours service call fee.
