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KINGSLAND — The Kingsland Municipal Utility District board wants to have more facts before deciding whether to accept credit card payments from customers. “We cannot make any (payment) changes if we do not know all the answers,” board President Mary Ann Hefner said during the meeting Monday.

 

The board wants more details from the RVS computer billing firm on transaction fees, as well as additional information related to standard operating procedures and privacy safeguards, board Vice-president Larry Denny said.

“We want to make sure we get it done right,” Denny added.

State law will allow KMUD to charge a fee of up to 5 percent on one credit card transaction based on amount of payment, Business/Office Manager Anita LaBier told the board.

How and when a customer is notified of a transaction fee is unclear for now, LaBier said.

“Every customer needs to know what the (transaction) charge is ahead of time,” Hefner said.

The board tabled the matter and instructed LaBier to meet with RVS representatives soon to gather more information.

In other business, local engineer Brad Shaw asked the board to review KMUD billing procedures for commercial and residential customers in order to make payments more equitable.

“I think they may need to be more equitable,” Shaw said. “Maybe they need to be reviewed a little closer than what they are now.”

KMUD commercial customers — particularly fast-food restaurants — may discharge more water and more “high-intensity sludge” into the KMUD sewage treatment plant than residential customers do, Shaw added.

“If you impact the system a lot — you ought to pay for that,” Shaw said.

However, KMUD does not possess meters or other means to determine what comes from restaurants, Hefner said.

Shaw suggested the Kingsland Water Supply Corp. share that data with the district.

The board will ask District Engineer James Miertschin to compare water and sludge discharge volumes among KMUD customers and report “recommendations, if necessary.”

Also, the board reviewed and accepted invoices and documents from the Kingsland Little League, which leases land from the district. The lease expires Dec. 31, 2011.

raymond@thepicayune.com