CITY BRIEFS:
Sewer payments, vehicle bids and Comcast

[February 25, 2012]  Tuesday evening the Lincoln City Council met for their voting session for the week. Normally this would have been on a Monday meeting, but because of Presidents Day it was rescheduled for the following night.

City clerk talks about sewer collections

Susan Gehlbach, city clerk, offered a status report on the collection of delinquent sewer accounts. As of the end of business Tuesday evening, the city has collected $38,159.17 in delinquent bills.

Gehlbach said the clerk's office had sent out 12 more letters on Tuesday warning customers of the imminent loss of water service if they did not pay up their past-due accounts.

Mayor Keith Snyder noted that at its highest point, the total due to the city in delinquent accounts was approximately $380,000. He said that in the month of February alone, the city had collected approximately 10 percent of that amount.

In another note, Gehlbach said the two local prisons are approximately 90 days past due, and the total amount they owe comes to $115,000.

Other news

In addition to voting on issuing a letter of interest in the sale of city property to Brinshore Development, the council also approved allowing the fire department to seek bids for a used SUV to be used as the chief's vehicle.

The consent agenda allowed for the payment of bills and approved minutes for the Aug. 23, 2011, committee of the whole meeting.

The only other item on the consent agenda was a request from the Lincoln St. Jude Run team to collect donations at the four-way stop at the intersection of Broadway and McLean on May 19.

Comcast cable

At the end of the evening, the mayor said he'd been attempting to get Comcast to appear before the city council to explain their recent rate increases in the city of Lincoln.

However, it appears that neither of the company representatives, Debra Piscola and Libbie Stehn Tumulty, have had the time to make the visit.

However, each one has sent Snyder letters explaining the cause of the increase and the added benefits to the customers. Piscola's letter listed new channels that are being added to the most basic of cable services and also noted the increased operating costs in the company. She said the increase to consumers is 4 percent.

Snyder pointed out that Stehn Tumulty's letter explained that now, even those who are still on a basic program, not digital, will have to have a digital converter box. She said the boxes and up to two digital adapters would be provided free of charge, but additional adapters beyond that will cost 50 cents per month.

Her letter also indicated customers with questions about this change should call 1-877-634-4434, a special number for this particular digital network enhancement.

When Snyder was finished with this topic, he asked Alderwoman Melody Anderson to make the motion for an executive session. Media representatives were told there would be no action after the session, so they could leave for the evening.

[By NILA SMITH]