Staff Writer

Dec. 28, 1999 11 PM

Residents of the city of Troy can expect to see a slight increase in their water bills come February 2000.

Ordinance 172, concerning the increase of water and sewage rates for the city, was approved by the Troy City Council Tuesday night

"We’ve obviously put it off as long as we could," council president John Witherington said. "But simply because of the operation and maintenance needs, and the needs to make additional improvements to our water system, it’s time to make some changes."

Mayor Jimmy Lunsford agreed with council member Witherington.

"We’ve not been keeping our rates up with the operational cost of our equipment," the Mayor said.

"And I thought it was interesting to note that after this increase we’ll be able to get our systems in excellent working order and we’ll still have lower rates then most of the surrounding counties."

Ordinance 172 calls for an increase of the city water rates from the current $3.50 per month to an increase of $5 per month for every 3,000 gallons of water used and from the current 70 cents to an $2 per every 1,000 gallons used beyond 3,000 gallons.

According to Troy city clerk and treasurer Alton Starling, most residents can expect an increase of $1.50 per month.

The council also awarded bids in the total amount of $221,000 dollars for the purchase of: one two-ton cab and chassis, one long bed pick-up truck, one knuckle boom trash loader, one tractor and boom mower, two chassis and flat body dump trucks, and one 15 passenger van, all for use by the city of Troy’s public works department.

Mayor Lunsford concluded the meeting with thoughts concerning the New Years Eve celebration to be held in the city square Friday night.

"We will have considerably more patrol throughout the city then we normally have," he said. He noted that the increased patrols are necessary "simply because of the large crowd expected."

The Mayor also said that he feels confident there will be no problems with the city’s computer systems when the clock strikes midnight.

"We feel we are Y2K ready from a computer standpoint," he said. "And we are prepared to handle anything that may come up within the city. We will staff available and on call for any problems that may arise, either two hours before or two hours after midnight."