The Chattooga County Water Board held its first meeting of 2009 last night (Tuesday).  Commissioner Jason Winters appointed two new members to serve on the board: Jimmy Holbrook of Cloudland and Mike Dawson of Gore.  Dawson was appointed by Winters to serve as the Chairman of the Board for one year.  Both men have been appointed to serve three year terms on the board.  Other members of the board who were re-appointed include: Brad Hayes, Sammy Lee, Tommy O’Kelly and Larry Wesson.  Each of these members have been appointed to serve a two year term.  Under new bylaws that were introduced for approval last night Dawson’s position as chairman will be up for re-appointemnet by the board after one year.

One of the most pressing issues discussed was that of 7 Cloudland residents refusing to pay bills for the month of December.  Those residents were without water for a period of up to a week from the end of December into the new year.  It is unclear what cased the residents’ water service to not function properly.  The board is witholding funds from the contractor in charge of this project until the problem is fixed.  The problem may be coming from a water leak or low water pressure from the City of Ft. Payne, which is the water supplier for the Cloudland area.

The Cloudland are reported a loss in revenue for the month of December.  A total of $2,192.90 was billed and only $1,666.89 was paid as of December 31st.  The board was informed that the City of Ft. Payne Water Works is raising the rate for Cloudland from $3.00 per thousand gallons to $3.25.  The reason for the increase was cited as rising operating and electrical costs.

AM 1180 Chattooga County Radio will have more information about the Chattooga County Water District in upcoming newcasts.