BARNESVILLE — Village officials recently heard a complaint concerning a high water bill while also learning that a different waterline issue has been causing problems for a neighboring resident.

Resident Dick Thomas addressed council during a scheduled meeting to dispute an unusual water meter reading from 2021 that he believed was caused by trapped air going through the meter. Thomas said he was at his winter home in Florida in December 2021 when he was notified by the water department that a leak had been detected at his Barnesville home, and that he had the water department turn off the water at that time.

Upon his return in April and turning the water back on going into the meter himself, he said that the dial on the meter commenced to spinning so fast that it could not be seen, and that he had gone ahead and paid a water bill that was well over $500 for over 31,000 gallons of usage.

He said that during further investigation he and others had walked the path of the line, finding no evidence of a leak, and that upon turning the water back on into the house the meter dials were no longer spinning as they had been before.

Thomas said this made him believe that he did not have a leak and that he had researched the model of water meter in use at his house and found that there had been cases in which air going through the meter could cause the meter to spin the way his had.

Thomas said he was looking to get his money back, but that he planned to donate any money reimbursed towards the recently begun restoration of the State Theatre on Main Street.

Village Administrator Roger Deal said that the high water usage being discussed happened sometime between October and December of 2021, but they were not sure when since they only read meters every other month and that Thomas was called as soon as it was discovered.

Deal went on to say that the only time that air gets into a waterline is when there is a break, and that he couldn’t remember the last time there was a break on Shamrock Drive. Water Department employee Silas Tracy said that after a break, air collects at hilltops, which would not affect the area being discussed, and that there were a number of safeguards that would prevent customer taps from getting air through them.

Deal pointed out that Thomas had experienced high usage on a number of occasions in the past, while Thomas recounted two occasions on which he had leaks repaired.

After some further discussion the consensus was reached that there was not enough evidence to grant Thomas’s request for a refund at this time, but council asked that Thomas have the water department be involved the next time he has his water shut off and back on so that the behavior of the meter can be observed and verified.

A resident who lives in the vicinity of Gills Avenue and Laws Street also addressed council, saying that her yard was a swamp due to a water leak from a neighbor’s service line that had been present since May. She said that there now is a steady stream of water running near her house and that the yard could not be mowed and her grandchildren could not play there.

Who was ultimately responsible for the leak in question had been contested by the neighbor at the Aug. 15 council meeting and discussed again at the Aug. 29 meeting, with Deal maintaining the village policy that water customers are responsible for 3/4-inch service lines, while the customer believed that the village should handle the repair since it was between the curb box and the meter pit, which ae approximately 200 yards apart.

Councilman Steve Hill said he believed that distance could be reason to make an exception to the village policy, while Deal warned that making such an exception could open up the village to further complications.

Councilman Tim McKelvey said he believed council had “dropped the ball” on this problem and suggested that if the repairs were not underway within a week that the village contract to have the repair done and then bill the customer for the repair.

“It has to get fixed,” he concluded.

McKelvey said they could handle billing the customer like they do with the village’s sidewalk program, where they break the repair total into payments.

Deal said he would be in favor of doing so and suggested they come up with rules and guidelines in order to offer the repair program on a wider scale. Council agreed.

Also at the Sept. 12 meeting, council approved Deal’s request to acquire a cost proposal from Pennoni Consulting for engineering the village’s Rails to Trails project, noting that he would have ODOT review the proposal since it is more experienced with this particular kind of project.

Council also approved Police Chief Rocky Sirianni’s request to order a 2023 Ford Police Interceptor, with a total price expected to be around $60,000.

At the Aug. 15 council meeting, Fire Chief Tim Hall informed council that he had two EMS employees who had come forward and expressed interest in going through the necessary training to become certified paramedics. Hall said that the training would cost around $5,000 for each and that they would be willing to sign a waiver that they would work for the village for two years if the village would pay for their training.

Councilman Brian Yarnall asked if the village would be left to pay for the program should either of the employees not complete the training. Hall responded that would be accounted for in the waiver they would be signing.

Council voted in favor of paying for the paramedic training for the two individuals.

Hall also reported that the Safety Day that was held Aug. 27 in honor of the Barnesville Fire Department’s 150th anniversary had been a great success and thanked all who had helped out with the event.

Barnesville’s next council meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. today, will be preceded by a Finance Committee meeting at 6 p.m. with both being held in Council Chambers in the village offices on Arch Street.