Mary Ban: Water bills in Sumpter Twp. don’t tell what the total is for

Sumpter Township resident Mary Ban told the township board at its Feb. 25 meeting that her husband will not pay the water bill they just got because it is not satisfactory.
She said her husband Barney, who used to serve on the board, asked her to tell the board that the water bill they received is not satisfactory, since it has a total, but no details on the usage, such as how much for water, how much for rubbish, or grinder pump.
“The usage is always in the bill. I will come in and have you rerun this,” Ban said to the board.
Treasurer Bart Patterson said there was an error in the bills sent out at the end of the previous week. He assured Ban they could rerun the bill and he could email it to her.
Ban said she always comes in to pay the bill and she would bring it in.
Later in the meeting during his report, treasurer Patterson said a lot of people are getting water shutoff notices, but then they come in and pay their bills.
Trustee Matthew Oddy asked if he missed the email that must have been sent to board members on the error and Patterson said the township manager is alerted to this.
Patterson said he is sure to get lots of calls on this.
Trustee Oddy said he realizes that Patterson himself didn’t make the error and Patterson agreed, saying, “Don’t kill the messenger.”
In other business at the 50-minute on Feb. 25, the board:
• Accepted the resignation of J. Savich as Parks & Recreation Committee chairperson effective Jan. 17, with regrets; and
• Approved the appointment of Nicole VanAssche as chairperson of Parks & Rec and Michelle Baughman as treasurer effective Feb. 27.