Question of the week: Should the City Council disallow residents to request sanitary sewer charges?

For our first ever question of the week poll we felt the need to address the city council’s move to get rid of sanitary sewer reductions. After repeated calls from council member Aaron VerSteeg to lift this part of the Oskaloosa code, the city council will now be considering a resolution that would not allow residents to request a sanitary sewer charge in the event of a leak no matter what the circumstances are. This move also comes after several requests from residents whom had broken pipes. The most recent request was turned down by a 6-1 vote. Council member Versteeg has said that there is no reason we should be reducing sanitary sewer charges for “pure stupidity” from residents.

Officials asked neighboring communities for their policy. Of the 5 communities asked, 2 (Knoxville and Ottumwa) had a no tolerance policy, 2 (Pella and Grinnell) had a policy stricter than Oskaloosa, and 1 (Newton) had a policy the same as Oskaloosa.

You may vote in the poll here on our website. The final results will be released next Monday.