THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503030163
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
Franklin City Council adopted a water meter access policy Feb. 27 that will allow licensed plumbers, certified by the city, to cut off water service when repairs are required.
A plumber can obtain this certification by attending a training session held by the city's Public Works Department.
Previously, when a customer required repairs, an employee of Public Works had to be called to cut off water service. This response time hindered plumbers and often resulted in increased plumbing costs to the customer. The charge for a call to cut off service is $20 and another $20 is charged to reconnect the service after the repairs are made. These costs increase to $50 for after-hours and weekend calls.
Homes built before 1970 may not have private cut off valves, and Public Works is encouraging residents to have them installed. If customers agree to have the valve installed when other repairs are being made, the charges for city call-outs will be waived.
Bill McIntyre, Public Works director, welcomes this new policy.
``It will benefit our customers, saving them time and money, and help plumbers as well, whose wait time will be decreased. This policy also benefits the city because it will reduce the amount of time employees have to leave job sites. . . .'' by CNB