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RIDGELY – At a Ridgely Town Commission meeting on November 4, Ridgely’s Planning and Zoning Administrator Melissa Leonard suggested that the Commissioners consider waiving late fees on water bills due to the continued financial impact of the federal government shutdown.
“One thing I wanted to bring to the forefront is about waiving late fees for this quarter with the water bills in light of what's going on,” she said, “we have a lot of people in the community that are federal employees that are being affected. So I wanted see if you would be willing to waive the late fees for this quarter.” Leonard added that depending on how long the shutdown continues, “we might have to talk about waving disconnects.”
“It’ll be across the board, whether you're a federal employee or not, but I think it would be a nice gesture to help,” Leonard said. She explained that while late fees for the bills are only 10%, “every little bit helps.”
Commission President Brad Sears said he supported waiving the late fees and asked for a motion on the matter from the other two Commissioners. Commissioner John Hurley made a motion to waive late fees and disconnects altogether for this quarter. That motion was passed unanimously. “It’s an unfortunate situation all the way around,” Sears said.
