Murray raises water rates for customers in Holley and Kendall
Photo by Kristina Gabalski: Town Supervisor Robert Miller oversees his first Town Board meeting on Tuesday evening. Town Clerk Cindy Oliver is at left and Town Attorney Jeff Martin is on the right.
MURRAY – Town Board members held their organizational meeting on Tuesday. It was the first meeting for Robert Miller in his official role as town supervisor. Michael Mele, who was elected to the Town Board in November, also is now serving on the board.
Town Board members voted to increase water rates for Kendall (Peter Smith Road) and the Village of Holley.
Ed Morgan, the town’s highway and water superintendent, told the board that Murray hadn’t raised in the Town of Kendall since 2008 and in the Village of Holley since 2010. The Monroe County Water Authority, which provides water to Kendall and Holley, just increased its rates, effective Jan. 1, 2018, Morgan said.
Town Board members voted to increase the rate for Peter Smith Road in Kendall from $3.05/1,000 gallons to $3.50/1,000 gallons. Village of Holley residents will see their rate increase from $3.12/1,000 gallons to $3.50/1,000 gallons.
The rate for Town of Murray residents will remain at $4.50/1,000 gallons, town officials said.
“With Water Authority rates going up every year, it’s not realistic to keep rates the same,” Morgan said. He noted that the Town of Murray does not have a contract with the Water Authority, but is classified as “Out of County Supplementary Supply Class.” He said the town has never signed a long-term contract with the Water Authority because that would allow the Authority to dictate how the Murray system is run.
The new Monroe County Water Authority rate schedule raises the rate the town pays for water from $3.25/1,000 gallons to $3.43/1,000 gallons, Morgan said.
Morgan said he would notify officials in Kendall and Holley regarding the increase.
In other business:
• Morgan also reported that the town will receive $13,050 in federal disaster aid stemming from the March 2017 snowstorm.
• Town Councilman Paul Hendel commended Morgan and the Town of Murray Highway Department for their efforts to keep roads cleared of ice and snow during the stormy weather of the past few weeks. He also said the Town Hall remained open Friday, Jan. 5, despite the frigid temperatures near 0 degrees.
“The supervisor and town clerk felt they should stay open,” Hendel said. “I would like to publicly thank you guys.”
“We got a lot of work done,” Miller said.
